CN110035448B

CN110035448B - Method and equipment for measuring communication quality of unassociated link in wireless network

Info

Publication number: CN110035448B
Application number: CN201810149881.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 朱冲; 代传; 张兴新; 刘子悦; 刘德; 王顺宝; 张阳; 肖亮
Original assignee: Huawei Device Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Device Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-01-11
Filing date: 2018-02-13
Publication date: 2022-05-24
Anticipated expiration: 2038-02-13
Also published as: CN110035448A

Abstract

A method and a device for measuring the communication quality of an unassociated link in a wireless network are provided to solve the problem that the communication quality of the unassociated link cannot be obtained in the prior art. The method comprises the following steps: the method comprises the steps that a first device receives a management message broadcasted by a second device which is not associated with the first device, the uplink signal strength of an unassociated link between the first device and the second device is determined according to the management message, the uplink rate of the unassociated link is estimated according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and a first corresponding relation, the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link is determined according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, the second device can be accessed to the wireless network through the first device after being associated with the first device, and the first corresponding relation comprises the corresponding relation between the uplink signal strength interval of the associated link of the first device and the uplink rate.

Description

Method and equipment for measuring communication quality of unassociated link in wireless network

The present application claims priority of chinese patent application with application number 201810025138.5, entitled "wireless networking link measurement method and apparatus", filed in 2018, month 1, and month 11, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of wireless communication technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for measuring communication quality of an unassociated link in a wireless network.

Background

The wireless network is widely applied to areas such as business districts, universities, airports and the like due to the characteristic of convenient and fast movement. Devices such as mobile phones, personal computers, wireless routers, etc. in a wireless network can access the wireless network for communication through devices already connected to the wireless network.

Taking a wireless router in a wireless network as an example, the wireless router is a router with a wireless coverage function, and is mainly applied to user internet access and wireless coverage. If a wireless router a in a wireless network is connected to the Internet (Internet), and the wireless router a is not associated with a wireless router B, at this time, a link between the wireless router a and the wireless router B is called an unassociated link, and the wireless router B can access the network through the wireless router a. However, when the communication quality of the unassociated link between the wireless router a and the wireless router B is poor, the packet loss rate is high or the throughput is low in the communication process of the wireless device (such as a mobile phone, a personal computer or a tablet computer) accessing the network through the wireless router a, and the normal operation of the customer service is affected.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a method and equipment for measuring the communication quality of an unassociated link in a wireless network, which are used for solving the problem that the communication quality of the unassociated link cannot be obtained in the prior art.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for measuring communication quality of an unassociated link in a wireless network, where the method includes: a first device receives a management message broadcasted by a second device unassociated with the first device and used for requesting to access a wireless network through the first device, determines uplink signal strength of an unassociated link between the first device and the second device according to the signal strength of the management message, estimates uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and a first corresponding relation, and determines uplink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, wherein the second device can access the wireless network through the first device after establishing association with the first device, the uplink refers to a direction from other devices except the first device to the first device, and the first corresponding relation comprises a corresponding relation between an uplink signal strength interval of the associated link of the first device and the uplink rate, the associated link is a link between the device associated with the first device and the first device.

Through the method, the first device determines the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link between the first device and the second device according to the signal strength of the management message broadcast by the second device unassociated with the first device, estimating the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relation, and further determining the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, so that the measurement of the communication quality of the unassociated link between the first device and the second device in the wireless network is realized, the first device can determine whether to allow the second device to access the wireless network through the first device according to the measured communication quality of the unassociated link, and the purpose of improving the communication quality of the second device after the second device is accessed into the wireless network can be achieved.

In a possible implementation manner, after the first device receives a management message, which is broadcasted by a second device unassociated with the first device and used for requesting to access a wireless network through the first device, before estimating an uplink rate of the unassociated link according to an uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and a first corresponding relationship, the first device determines a signal-to-noise ratio of the unassociated link according to the management message;

the first device estimates the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relationship, and the method includes: and the first equipment estimates the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link, the signal-to-noise ratio of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relation, wherein the first corresponding relation specifically comprises the signal-to-noise ratio of the associated link of the first equipment, and the corresponding relation between the uplink signal strength interval and the uplink rate.

By the method, the first device estimates the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link, the signal-to-noise ratio of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relationship, and the signal-to-noise ratio of the unassociated link is considered when the uplink rate of the unassociated link is estimated, so that the estimated uplink rate of the unassociated link can be further improved, and the accuracy of the communication quality measurement result of the unassociated link can be further improved.

In a possible implementation manner, after the first device determines the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link between the first device and the second device according to the signal strength of the management packet, the downlink traffic quality of the unassociated link may also be determined by the following method: the first equipment determines the downlink signal strength of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the difference value of the uplink signal strength and the downlink signal strength of any one associated link of the first equipment; estimating the downlink rate of the unassociated link according to the downlink signal strength of the unassociated link and the second corresponding relation; determining the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the downlink rate of the unassociated link; the downlink refers to a direction from the first device to other devices except the first device, and the second correspondence is a correspondence between a downlink signal strength interval of an associated link of the first device and a downlink rate.

By the method, the first device obtains the downlink rate of the unassociated link according to the reciprocity of the channel, estimates the downlink rate of the unassociated link according to the downlink signal strength of the unassociated link and the second corresponding relation, determines the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the downlink rate of the unassociated link, achieves measurement of the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link between devices in the wireless network, enables the first device to determine whether to allow the second device to access the network through the first device according to the uplink communication quality and the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link obtained through measurement, and further can further improve the communication quality of the second device after accessing the wireless network.

In a possible implementation manner, the first device determines, according to a first data packet sent by a plurality of devices that establish connection with the first device and a second data packet sent to the plurality of devices, a channel occupancy rate, a packet loss rate, and a protocol overhead of the first device;

the first device estimates the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, and the method comprises the following steps: and the first device determines the uplink available bandwidth of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, the channel occupancy rate, the packet loss rate and the protocol overhead, wherein the uplink available bandwidth represents the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link.

In one possible embodiment, the uplink available bandwidth of the unassociated link determined by the first device conforms to the following formula:

BW_R＝(1-α)×Rrate×(1-PER)×(1-U)

wherein, BW_RFor the uplink available bandwidth of the unassociated link, α is the protocol overhead, Rrate is the uplink rate of the unassociated link, PER is the packet loss rate, and U is the channel occupancyAnd (4) rate.

the first device estimates the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the downlink rate of the unassociated link, and the estimation method comprises the following steps: and the first equipment determines the downlink available bandwidth of the unassociated link according to the downlink rate of the unassociated link, the channel occupancy rate, the packet loss rate and the protocol overhead, wherein the downlink available bandwidth represents the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link.

In one possible implementation, the downlink available bandwidth of the unassociated link determined by the first device satisfies the following formula:

BW_T＝(1-α)×Trate×(1-PER)×(1-U)

wherein, BW_TAnd the uplink is the downlink available bandwidth of the unassociated link, alpha is the protocol overhead, Trate is the downlink rate of the unassociated link, PER is the packet loss rate, and U is the channel occupancy rate.

In a possible implementation manner, before the first device determines the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relationship, the first corresponding relationship is established by the following method: respectively receiving first data messages sent by a plurality of devices which establish association with the first device; respectively determining uplink signal strength and uplink rate of the associated links between the plurality of devices and the first device according to the received first data message; and respectively determining the uplink rate corresponding to each uplink signal strength interval divided in advance according to the determined uplink signal strength and uplink rate of the associated link between the plurality of devices and the first device, and establishing the first corresponding relation.

In a possible implementation, the first device determines the uplink rate of the associated link between the plurality of devices and the first device by: for a first data packet sent by any one of the plurality of devices, the first device determines, according to the first data packet, a modulation and demodulation strategy (MCS) index corresponding to the first data packet, and uses a transmission rate corresponding to the MCS index as an uplink rate of an associated connection between the device and the first device;

the first device specifically determines an uplink rate corresponding to each uplink signal strength interval divided in advance by the following method: for any one of the uplink signal strength intervals, the first device determines, according to the determined uplink signal strength of the associated link between the multiple devices and the first device, an MCS index, of which the uplink signal strength appears most frequently in MCS indexes corresponding to the first data packet in the uplink signal strength interval; and determining the transmission rate corresponding to the MCS index with the largest occurrence number as the uplink rate corresponding to the uplink signal strength interval.

In a possible implementation manner, before the first device determines the downlink rate of the unassociated link according to the downlink signal strength of the unassociated link and the second corresponding relationship, the second corresponding relationship may be further established by the following method: respectively sending second data messages to a plurality of devices which are associated with the first device; receiving downlink signal strength and downlink rate of an associated link between the plurality of devices and the first device, which are sent by the plurality of devices, respectively, and for any one of the plurality of devices, the downlink signal strength and the downlink rate sent by the device are determined by the device according to the received second data message; and respectively determining the downlink rate corresponding to each downlink signal strength interval which is divided in advance according to the received downlink signal strength and downlink rate of the associated link between the plurality of devices and the first device, and establishing the second corresponding relation.

In a possible implementation manner, when determining that the second corresponding relationship is established for the downlink rate corresponding to each downlink signal strength interval divided in advance, for any one of the downlink signal strength intervals, the first device may respectively determine, according to the device types of the multiple devices connected to the first device, the downlink rate corresponding to each device type in the downlink signal strength interval, so that when the first device estimates the downlink rate of the unassociated link, the downlink rate of the unassociated link is estimated according to the corresponding relationship between the downlink signal strength and the downlink rate corresponding to the device type in the second corresponding relationship, which is the same as the second device type, to further improve the accuracy of the measurement result of the communication quality of the unassociated link.

In a possible implementation manner, after the first device determines the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, if the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link is greater than a first threshold, the first device allows the second device to establish association with the first device and access the wireless network, otherwise, the first device denies the second device to access the wireless network through the first device.

By the method, the first device determines whether the second device is allowed to access the wireless network through the first device according to the measured uplink communication quality of the unassociated link, so that the aim of improving the communication quality of the second device after accessing the wireless network can be fulfilled, and the link switching condition caused by poor communication quality after the second device accesses the wireless network through the first device can be avoided.

In a possible implementation manner, after the first device estimates the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, if the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link is greater than a first threshold and the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link is greater than a second threshold, the first device allows the second device to establish association with the first device and access the wireless network, and otherwise, the first device denies the second device to access the wireless network through the first device.

By the method, the first device determines whether to allow the second device to access the wireless network through the first device according to the measured uplink communication quality of the unassociated link and the measured downlink traffic quality of the unassociated link, so that the communication quality of the second device after accessing the wireless network can be further improved.

In a second aspect, the present application further provides a device having a function of implementing the behavior of the first device in the above method example. The functions can be realized by hardware, and the functions can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the above-described functions.

In a possible implementation manner, the structure of the device includes a receiving unit, a processing unit, and a sending unit, which may execute corresponding functions in the foregoing method example, for specific reference, detailed description in the method example is given, and details are not repeated here.

In a possible implementation manner, the structure of the device includes a communication interface, a memory, and a processor, and the processor is configured to support the device to execute the corresponding functions in the above method. The memory is coupled to the processor and holds the program instructions and data necessary for the device.

In a third aspect, the present application also provides a computer storage medium having stored therein a software program that, when read and executed by one or more processors, implements the method provided by any of the designs of any aspect.

In a fourth aspect, the present application also provides a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform any of the methods of the first aspect described above.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless network system according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of another wireless network system architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart of a method for measuring communication quality of an unassociated link according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart of a method for establishing a first correspondence relationship in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a method for measuring downlink communication quality of an unassociated link according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of a method for establishing a second correspondence relationship in the embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to solve the problem that the communication quality of an unassociated link cannot be obtained in the prior art, the application provides a method and equipment for measuring the communication quality of the unassociated link in a wireless network. The method and the device are based on the same inventive concept, and because the principles of solving the problems of the method and the device are similar, the implementation of the device and the method can be mutually referred, and repeated parts are not repeated.

The method for measuring the communication quality of the unassociated link in the wireless network provided by the embodiment of the application can be applied to a scene that the wireless device accesses the wireless network through the device which has accessed the network or a scene that the wireless device which has accessed the network switches the link, and comprises the following steps: a first device determines, according to a management packet, which is broadcast by a second device unassociated with the first device, and is used for requesting to access a wireless network through the first device, an uplink signal strength of an unassociated link between the first device and the second device, then determines, according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and a first corresponding relationship, an uplink rate of the unassociated link, and then estimates, according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, an uplink communication quality of the unassociated link, wherein the second device can access the wireless network through the first device after establishing association with the first device, the uplink refers to a direction from other devices except the first device to the first device, and the associated link is a link between the device establishing association with the first device and the first device, the first corresponding relation comprises the corresponding relation between the uplink signal strength and the uplink rate of the associated link of the first equipment, and the measurement of the communication quality of the unassociated link between the equipment in the wireless network is realized, so that the first equipment can determine whether to allow the second equipment to access the wireless network through the first equipment according to the measured unassociated link communication quality, and further the purpose of improving the communication quality of the second equipment after accessing the wireless network can be achieved.

Some terms referred to in the embodiments of the present application are explained below to facilitate understanding by those skilled in the art.

(1) The association means that a first device (e.g., a wireless router, a mobile phone, a personal computer, etc.) discovers a wireless network existing around by receiving a beacon (beacon) message or a probe (probe) message sent by a second device, and then sends an association request (association request) message to the second device, and the second device determines, according to the association request message, a capability supported by the first device and returns an association response (association response) message, at this time, the first device is associated with the second device, and a link between the first device and the second device is an associated link.

(2) An Access Point (AP) refers to an access point of a wireless network (WLAN), and is mainly used for: 1. as the central point of the wireless local area network, other wireless devices can access the wireless local area network through the central point; 2. and connecting with other APs to expand the coverage of the wireless network.

(3) A Station (STA), generally referred to as a client in a WLAN, may be mobile or fixed, and is the most basic component unit of the WLAN. For example, the STA may be a computer equipped with a wireless network card, or may be a smart phone with a wireless-fidelity (WiFi) module, or the like.

(4) The management packet is used for creating, maintaining and terminating the connection between the STA and the AP, and mainly comprises the following steps: beacon messages, probe messages (including probe request messages and probe response messages), association messages (including association request messages and association response messages), authentication (authentication) messages (including authentication request messages and authentication response messages), and the like. The management messages interacted between the unassociated STA and the AP are mainly beacon messages and detection messages.

(5) Plural means two or more.

(6) And/or, describing the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, a and/or B, may represent: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

In addition, it is to be understood that the terms first, second, etc. used in the description of the present application are used for distinguishing between descriptions and not necessarily for describing a sequential or chronological order.

An application scenario and a system architecture of the embodiment of the present application are described below with reference to the drawings.

One possible system architecture is a wireless network composed of wireless routers, as shown in fig. 1, which mainly includes wireless routers and terminal devices, wherein a plurality of routers are connected to each other to expand the coverage area of the wireless network. The wireless router is mainly used for wireless internet access and wireless coverage of users. The terminal device is a device with a wireless internet access function, such as a personal computer, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, and the like.

Alternatively, the wireless router 1 may be directly connected to the Internet or may be connected to the Internet via a switch (not shown in fig. 1).

Another possible system architecture is a wireless network composed of terminal devices with AP functions, as shown in fig. 2, where at least one terminal device with AP functions accesses the Internet through a core network, and other terminal devices may access the network through the terminal device with AP functions. The terminal device accessing the network through the terminal device with the AP function may or may not have the AP function.

Based on the wireless network architecture shown in fig. 1 or 2, the application scenarios of the embodiment of the present application may specifically include: (1) a first wireless router accesses a wireless network through a second wireless router that has accessed the network, wherein the first wireless router is not associated with the second wireless router; (2) switching a second wireless router to a third wireless router, wherein the third wireless router has access to a network and the second wireless router is not associated with the third wireless router; (3) a first terminal device accesses a wireless network through a second wireless router which has accessed the network, wherein the first terminal device is not associated with the second wireless router; (4) the first terminal device accesses the network through a second terminal device which has accessed the network, wherein the first terminal device is not associated with the second terminal device, and the like.

Referring to fig. 3, a method for measuring communication quality of an unassociated link between a first device and a second device in a wireless network is shown, where the first device and the second device are any devices having a wireless communication function in the wireless network, such as a wireless router, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, and the like. The method for measuring the communication quality of the unassociated link specifically comprises the following steps:

s301: the first equipment receives a management message which is broadcasted by second equipment which is not associated with the first equipment and is used for requesting to access the wireless network through the first equipment.

The first device has access to a network, specifically, the first device may access to the internet in a wired or wireless manner, or may access to the wireless network through other wireless devices having access to the wireless network. The second device can access the wireless network through the first device after establishing association with the first device, and the management message is a message broadcasted by the second device and used for acquiring network information around the second device or a message broadcasted by the second device and carrying the network information where the second device is located. Specifically, the management packet may be a beacon packet or a probe packet.

S302: and the first equipment determines the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link between the first equipment and the second equipment according to the signal strength of the management message. Wherein the uplink refers to a direction from other devices except the first device to the first device.

In a specific embodiment, after receiving the signal carrying the management packet, the first device converts the signal carrying the management packet into a digital signal, stores the digital signal in a register, and calculates the signal strength of the management packet according to the amplitude of the signal carrying the management packet stored in the register.

In an implementation, the determining, by the first device, the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link between the first device and the second device according to the signal strength of the management packet includes, but is not limited to, the following ways: the first device determines the signal strength of the management packet as the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link between the first device and the second device, or the first device compensates the signal strength of the management packet according to the loss on the transmission path of the management packet, and determines the compensated signal strength of the management packet as the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link between the first device and the second device. The uplink signal strength of the unassociated link between the first device and the second device may be represented by Radio Frequency (RF) energy corresponding to the management packet, or may be represented by Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI).

S303: and the first equipment estimates the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relation.

The first corresponding relation at least comprises a corresponding relation between an uplink signal strength interval and an uplink rate of an associated link of the first device, and the associated link is a link between a device which establishes connection with the first device and the first device. The device connected to the first device may be a wireless router or a wireless device such as a terminal device (e.g., a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a personal computer, etc.) with a wireless internet access function, and the terminal device may be mobile or fixed.

In implementation, in order to increase the uplink rate of the unassociated link estimated by the first device, the first device may receive, for a plurality of times within a first set duration, management packets broadcast by the second device, respectively determine uplink signal strength corresponding to each management packet, respectively determine, according to the first correspondence, an uplink rate corresponding to the uplink signal strength corresponding to each management packet, and use an average value of the uplink rates corresponding to the uplink signal strengths corresponding to each management packet as the uplink rate of the unassociated link. Or, the first device may receive, for a plurality of times within a first set time period, the management packet broadcast by the second device, determine the uplink signal strength corresponding to each management packet, use an average value of the uplink signal strengths corresponding to each management packet as the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link, and determine the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the determined uplink signal strength and the first correspondence.

S304: and the first equipment determines the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link.

In implementation, in order to further improve the accuracy of the unassociated link communication quality measurement result, after receiving a management packet broadcasted by a second device unassociated with the first device, the first device further determines the signal-to-noise ratio of the unassociated link according to the management packet, and determines the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link, the signal-to-noise ratio of the unassociated link, and the first correspondence, where the first correspondence specifically includes the signal-to-noise ratio of the associated link of the first device, and the correspondence between the uplink signal strength interval and the uplink rate.

In implementation, after the first device determines the uplink traffic quality of an unassociated link between the first device and the second device, if the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link is greater than a first threshold, the first device allows the second device to establish association with the first device and access the wireless network, and otherwise, the first device rejects the second device to access the wireless network through the first device. Specifically, when the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link is less than or equal to the first threshold, the first device rejects the second device to establish association with the first device, so that the second device cannot access the wireless network through the first device, or the first device permits the second device to establish association with the first device, rejects the second device to pass authentication, so that the second device cannot access the wireless network through the first device.

In implementation, the first device establishes the first corresponding relationship before estimating the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relationship. Specifically, referring to fig. 4, the method for establishing the first corresponding relationship by the first device mainly includes the following steps:

s401: the first device receives first data messages sent by a plurality of devices which are associated with the first device respectively.

In implementation, the first device may receive first data packets sent by a plurality of devices associated with the first device within a second set duration, and establish the first correspondence according to the first data packets sent by the plurality of devices within the second set duration. The device associated with the first device may be a wireless router or a wireless device such as a terminal device with a wireless internet access function (e.g., a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a personal computer, etc.), and the terminal device may be mobile or fixed.

S402: and the first equipment respectively determines the uplink signal strength and the uplink rate of the associated links between the plurality of equipment and the first equipment according to the received first data message.

In implementation, the method for the first device to respectively determine the uplink signal strength of the associated links between the multiple devices and the first device according to the received first data packet is similar to the method for the first device to determine the uplink signal strength of the unassociated links between the first device and the second device according to the signal strength of the management packet in step S302, and refer to the relevant description of step S302, which is not described herein again.

Specifically, the uplink signal strength of the associated link between the plurality of devices and the first device may be represented by RF energy corresponding to the first datagram, or may be represented by RSSI. For a first data packet sent by any one of the multiple devices, the first device determines, according to the first data packet, a modulation and demodulation scheme (MCS) index corresponding to the first data packet, and uses a transmission rate corresponding to the MCS index as an uplink rate of an associated connection between the device and the first device.

S403: and the first equipment respectively determines the uplink rate corresponding to each uplink signal strength interval divided in advance according to the determined uplink signal strength and uplink rate of the associated link between the plurality of equipment and the first equipment, and establishes the first corresponding relation.

When the uplink signal strength of the associated link is represented by RSSI, a value range of the uplink signal strength of the associated link is-100 dBm-0, and the value range may be divided into a plurality of uplink signal strength intervals according to a set interval, where the set interval may be adjusted according to the uplink signal strength example of the associated link determined by the first device, and for example, the set interval may be set to 3 dBm.

Optionally, the first device respectively determines the uplink rate corresponding to each uplink signal strength interval divided in advance by: and for any one of the uplink signal strength intervals, the first device determines, according to the determined uplink signal strength of the associated link between the multiple devices and the first device, the MCS index with the uplink signal strength having the highest occurrence frequency in the MCS indexes corresponding to the first data packet in the uplink signal strength interval, and determines the transmission rate corresponding to the MCS index with the highest occurrence frequency as the uplink rate corresponding to the uplink signal strength interval.

Optionally, if the first correspondence includes a signal-to-noise ratio of an associated link of the first device, a correspondence between an uplink signal strength and an uplink rate, the first device further determines, according to the received first data packet, signal-to-noise ratios of associated links between the plurality of devices and the first device, for any one of the uplink signal strength intervals. When the first device establishes the first corresponding relationship, according to the determined uplink signal strength of the associated link between the multiple devices and the first device, determining a signal-to-noise ratio interval or an average value of corresponding signal-to-noise ratios corresponding to the first data message of the uplink signal strength in the uplink signal strength interval, and taking the determined signal-to-noise ratio interval or the average value of corresponding signal-to-noise ratios as the signal-to-noise ratio corresponding to the uplink signal strength interval.

For example, the first correspondence relationship established by the first device is shown in table 1:

TABLE 1 first correspondence

The AP-side RSSI represents a signal reliability (i.e., uplink signal strength) corresponding to the first data packet received by the first device, and the link rate is represented by an MCS order (MCS index).

In implementation, in order to further improve the accuracy of the measurement result of the communication quality of the unassociated link, the first device further determines, according to a first data packet sent by a plurality of devices connected to the first device and a second data packet sent to the plurality of devices, a channel occupancy rate, a packet loss rate, and a protocol overhead of the first device, and determines, according to an uplink rate of the unassociated link, the channel occupancy rate, the packet loss rate, and the protocol overhead, an uplink available bandwidth of the unassociated link, where the uplink available bandwidth characterizes the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link.

In a specific embodiment, the uplink available bandwidth of the unassociated link determined by the first device conforms to the following formula:

BW_R＝(1-α)×Rrate×(1-PER)×(1-U)

wherein, BW_RAnd determining the uplink available bandwidth of the unassociated link, wherein alpha is protocol overhead, Rrate is the uplink rate of the unassociated link, PER is packet loss rate, and U is channel occupancy rate.

Optionally, after determining, by the first device, the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link between the first device and the second device according to the management packet, the first device may also determine, according to the uplink signal strength and the second correspondence, the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link, referring to fig. 5, where the method specifically includes the following steps:

s501: and the first equipment determines the downlink signal strength of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the difference value of the uplink signal strength and the downlink signal strength of any one associated link of the first equipment. Wherein the downlink refers to a direction from the first device to other devices except the first device.

Due to the reciprocity of the channels, the uplink signal strength and the downlink signal strength I on the same link_DThe difference Δ I is a fixed value, i.e. Δ I ═ I_U-I_DThe uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the difference between the uplink signal strength of any one of the associated links of the first device and the downlink signal strength can be estimated by the first device.

S502: and the first equipment determines the downlink rate of the unassociated link according to the downlink signal strength of the unassociated link and a second corresponding relationship, wherein the second corresponding relationship is the corresponding relationship between the downlink signal strength of the associated link of the first equipment and the downlink rate.

S503: and the first equipment determines the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the downlink rate of the unassociated link.

In implementation, after the first device estimates the downlink communication quality of an unassociated link between the first device and the second device according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, if the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link is greater than a first threshold and the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link is greater than a second threshold, the first device allows the second device to establish association with the first device and access the wireless network, and otherwise, the first device denies the second device to access the wireless network through the first device. Specifically, when the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link is less than or equal to the first threshold, the first device rejects the second device to establish association with the first device, so that the second device cannot access the wireless network through the first device, or the first device permits the second device to establish association with the first device, rejects the second device to pass authentication, so that the second device cannot access the wireless network through the first device.

Further, before the first device executes step S502, the second corresponding relationship is established through the following steps, referring to fig. 6:

s601: and the first equipment respectively sends second data messages to a plurality of pieces of equipment which are associated with the first equipment.

Correspondingly, the multiple devices respectively receive the second data messages sent by the first device.

S602: and the plurality of devices respectively determine the downlink signal strength and the downlink rate of the associated link between the plurality of devices and the first device according to the second data message sent by the first device.

Specifically, the multiple devices respectively receive a second data packet sent by the first device within a third set duration, and determine that the received second data packet determines the downlink signal strength and the downlink rate of the associated link between the multiple devices and the first device.

In implementation, the method for determining, by the multiple devices, the downlink signal strength of the associated link between the multiple devices and the first device is similar to the method for determining, by the first device according to the signal strength of the management packet, the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link between the first device and the second device in step S302, see the relevant description of step S302, and is not described again here.

S603: and the plurality of devices respectively send the determined downlink signal strength and the determined downlink rate to the first device.

Correspondingly, the first device receives the downlink signal strength and the downlink rate of the associated link between the plurality of devices and the first device, which are sent by the plurality of devices, respectively.

S604: and the first equipment respectively determines the downlink rate corresponding to each downlink signal strength interval which is divided in advance according to the received downlink signal strength and downlink rate of the associated link between the plurality of equipment and the first equipment, and establishes the second corresponding relation.

A method for determining, by the first device, the downlink rate corresponding to each downlink signal strength interval that is divided in advance is the same as a method for determining, by the first device, the uplink rate corresponding to each uplink signal strength interval that is divided in advance, see the relevant description in step S403, and is not described herein again.

Further, when the first device determines that the second correspondence relationship is established for the downlink rate corresponding to each downlink signal strength interval that is divided in advance, for any one of the downlink signal strength intervals, the downlink rate corresponding to each device type in the downlink signal strength interval may be respectively determined according to the device types of the multiple devices connected to the first device, so that when the first device estimates the downlink rate of the unassociated link, the downlink rate of the unassociated link is estimated according to the correspondence relationship between the downlink signal strength and the downlink rate corresponding to the device type in the second correspondence relationship, which is the same as the second device type, and the accuracy of the measurement result of the communication quality of the unassociated link is further improved.

In a specific embodiment, before measuring the communication quality of the unassociated link, the first device tests multiple devices connected with the first device, establishes the first relationship and the second relationship according to data packets exchanged between the first route and the multiple devices, and stores the first relationship and the second relationship. For example, the first corresponding relationship and the second corresponding relationship are shown in table 2:

TABLE 2 first and second correspondences

The STA end RSSI represents the signal strength corresponding to the second data packet transmitted by the first device and received by the device connected to the first device, and STA1, STA2, and STA3 represent different types of devices, respectively.

In implementation, in order to further improve the accuracy of the measurement result of the communication quality of the unassociated link, the first device further determines, according to a first data packet sent by a plurality of devices connected to the first device and a second data packet sent to the plurality of devices, a channel occupancy rate, a packet loss rate, and a protocol overhead of the first device, and determines, according to a downlink rate of the unassociated link, the channel occupancy rate, the packet loss rate, and the protocol overhead, a downlink available bandwidth of the unassociated link, where the downlink available bandwidth characterizes the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link.

In a specific embodiment, the downlink available bandwidth of the unassociated link determined by the first device conforms to the following formula:

BW_T＝(1-α)×Trate×(1-PER)×(1-U)

By the method, the first device determines, according to a management packet broadcast by a second device unassociated with the first device, an uplink signal strength of an unassociated link between the first device and the second device, then determines, according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and a first corresponding relationship, an uplink rate of the unassociated link is determined, and then estimates, according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, the uplink refers to a direction from other devices except the first device to the first device, the first corresponding relationship includes a corresponding relationship between an uplink signal strength interval of the associated link of the first device and the uplink rate, measurement of the communication quality of the unassociated link between devices in the wireless network is realized, so that the first device can obtain the communication quality of the unassociated link according to the measurement, whether the second equipment is allowed to access the wireless network through the first equipment is determined, and therefore the purpose of improving the communication quality of the second equipment after the second equipment is accessed to the wireless network can be achieved.

Based on the above embodiments, an apparatus is further provided in the embodiments of the present application, where the apparatus is configured to implement a method for measuring communication quality of an unassociated link in a wireless network as shown in fig. 3, with reference to fig. 7, where the apparatus 700 is a first apparatus, and the apparatus 700 includes: a receiving unit 701 and a processing unit 702.

A receiving unit 701, configured to receive a management packet, which is broadcasted by a second device that is not associated with the first device and is used to request to access a wireless network through the first device, where the second device can access the wireless network through the first device after establishing association with the first device;

a processing unit 702, configured to determine, according to the signal strength of the management packet, an uplink signal strength of an unassociated link between the first device and the second device; estimating the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relation; and determining the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link.

The uplink refers to a direction from other devices except the first device to the first device, the first correspondence includes a correspondence between an uplink signal strength interval of an associated link of the first device and an uplink rate, and the associated link is a link between a device associated with the first device and the first device.

Optionally, the processing unit 702 is further configured to: after the receiving unit 701 receives a management message, which is broadcasted by a second device unassociated with the first device and used for requesting to access a wireless network through the first device, the processing unit 702 determines the signal-to-noise ratio of the unassociated link according to the management message before estimating the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relationship;

the processing unit 702 is specifically configured to, when estimating the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relationship: and estimating the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link, the signal-to-noise ratio of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relationship, wherein the first corresponding relationship specifically comprises the signal-to-noise ratio of the associated link of the first equipment, and the corresponding relationship between the uplink signal strength interval and the uplink rate.

Optionally, the processing unit 702 is further configured to: after determining the uplink signal strength of an unassociated link between the first device and the second device according to the management message, determining the downlink signal strength of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the difference value between the uplink signal strength and the downlink signal strength of any one associated link of the first device, wherein the downlink refers to the direction from the first device to other devices except the first device;

estimating the downlink rate of the unassociated link according to the downlink signal strength of the unassociated link and a second corresponding relationship, wherein the second corresponding relationship is the corresponding relationship between the downlink signal strength interval of the associated link of the first device and the downlink rate;

and determining the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the downlink rate of the unassociated link.

Optionally, the processing unit 702 is further configured to: determining the channel occupancy rate, the packet loss rate and the protocol overhead of the first equipment according to first data messages sent by a plurality of pieces of equipment which establish connection with the first equipment and second data messages sent to the plurality of pieces of equipment;

when the processing unit 702 estimates the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, the processing unit is specifically configured to: and determining the uplink available bandwidth of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, the channel occupancy rate, the packet loss rate and the protocol overhead, wherein the uplink available bandwidth represents the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link.

Optionally, the uplink available bandwidth of the unassociated link determined by the processing unit 702 conforms to the following formula:

BW_R＝(1-α)×Rrate×(1-PER)×(1-U)

when the processing unit 702 estimates the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the downlink rate of the unassociated link, the processing unit is specifically configured to: and determining the downlink available bandwidth of the unassociated link according to the downlink rate of the unassociated link, the channel occupancy rate, the packet loss rate and the protocol overhead, wherein the downlink available bandwidth represents the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link.

Optionally, the downlink available bandwidth of the unassociated link determined by the processing unit 702 conforms to the following formula:

BW_T＝(1-α)×Trate×(1-PER)×(1-U)

Optionally, the receiving unit 701 is further configured to: before the processing unit 702 determines the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relationship, receiving first data packets sent by a plurality of devices associated with the first device, respectively;

the processing unit 702 is further configured to: respectively determining uplink signal strength and uplink rate of the associated links between the plurality of devices and the first device according to the received first data message; and respectively determining the uplink rate corresponding to each uplink signal strength interval divided in advance according to the determined uplink signal strength and uplink rate of the associated link between the plurality of devices and the first device, and establishing the first corresponding relation.

Optionally, when the processing unit 702 determines, according to the received first data packet, uplink rates of the associated links between the multiple devices and the first device, it is specifically configured to: aiming at a first data message sent by any one of the plurality of devices, determining a modulation and demodulation strategy (MCS) index corresponding to the first data message according to the first data message, and taking a transmission rate corresponding to the MCS index as an uplink rate of an associated connection between the device and the first device;

the processing unit 702 is specifically configured to, when determining, according to the determined uplink signal strength and uplink rate of the associated link between the multiple devices and the first device, respectively determine an uplink rate corresponding to each uplink signal strength interval divided in advance: for any one of the uplink signal strength intervals, determining an MCS index with the uplink signal strength which has the most frequency in MCS indexes corresponding to the first data message in the uplink signal strength interval according to the determined uplink signal strength of the associated link between the plurality of devices and the first device; and determining the transmission rate corresponding to the MCS index with the largest occurrence number as the uplink rate corresponding to the uplink signal strength interval.

Optionally, the device further includes a sending unit 703, configured to send second data packets to multiple devices associated with the first device, respectively, before the processing unit 702 determines the downlink rate of the unassociated link according to the downlink signal strength of the unassociated link and the second correspondence;

the receiving unit 701 is further configured to: receiving downlink signal strength and downlink rate of an associated link between the plurality of devices and the first device, which are sent by the plurality of devices, respectively, and for any one of the plurality of devices, the downlink signal strength and the downlink rate sent by the device are determined by the device according to the received second data message;

the processing unit 702 is further configured to: and respectively determining the downlink rate corresponding to each downlink signal strength interval which is divided in advance according to the received downlink signal strength and downlink rate of the associated link between the plurality of devices and the first device, and establishing the second corresponding relation.

Optionally, the processing unit 702 is further configured to: after the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link is determined according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, if the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link is larger than a first threshold value, the second device is allowed to access the wireless network through the first device, and if not, the second device is refused to access the wireless network through the first device.

Optionally, the processing unit 702 is further configured to: after estimating the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, if the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link is greater than a first threshold and the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link is greater than a second threshold, allowing the second device to establish association with the first device and access the wireless network, and if not, rejecting the second device to access the wireless network through the first device.

It should be noted that the division of the unit in the embodiment of the present application is schematic, and is only a logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation. The functional modules in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit. The integrated unit can be realized in a form of hardware, and can also be realized in a form of a software functional unit.

The integrated unit, if implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on such understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be substantially implemented or contributed by the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution may be embodied in a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, or the like) or a processor (processor) to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: various media capable of storing program codes, such as a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

Based on the above embodiments, the present application further provides an apparatus for implementing the method for measuring communication quality of unassociated links in a wireless network as shown in fig. 3, and the apparatus has the function of the apparatus 700 as shown in fig. 7. Referring to fig. 8, the apparatus 800 is a first apparatus, the apparatus 800 comprising: a communication interface 801, a memory 802, and a processor 803. The processor 803 is interconnected with the communication interface 801 and the memory 802.

A communication interface 801, configured to receive a management packet, which is broadcasted by a second device that is not associated with the first device and is used to request to access a wireless network through the first device, where the second device can access the wireless network through the first device after establishing association with the first device;

a memory 802 for storing program instructions;

a processor 803, for calling the program instructions stored in the memory 802, and executing:

determining the uplink signal strength of an unassociated link between the first device and the second device according to the signal strength of the management message; estimating the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relation; and determining the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link.

Alternatively, memory 802 may include volatile memory (volatile memory), such as random-access memory (RAM); the memory may also include a non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory), such as a flash memory (also called flash memory), a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD); the memory 802 may also comprise a combination of the above types of memory.

Alternatively, the processor 803 may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Network Processor (NP), or a combination of a CPU and an NP. The processor 803 may further include a hardware chip. The hardware chip may be an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), or a combination thereof. The PLD may be a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a General Array Logic (GAL), or any combination thereof.

Alternatively, the processor 803 and the communication interface 801 and the memory 802 may be connected to each other by a bus 804. The bus 804 may be a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, or the like. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of illustration, only one thick line is shown in FIG. 8, but this is not intended to represent only one bus or type of bus.

Optionally, the processor 803 is further configured to: after the communication interface 801 receives a management packet, which is broadcasted by a second device unassociated with the first device and used for requesting to access a wireless network through the first device, the processor 803 determines the signal-to-noise ratio of the unassociated link according to the management packet before estimating the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relationship;

the processor 803, when estimating the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relationship, is specifically configured to: and estimating the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link, the signal-to-noise ratio of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relation, wherein the first corresponding relation specifically comprises the signal-to-noise ratio of the associated link of the first equipment, the uplink signal strength interval and the uplink rate.

Optionally, the processor 803 is further configured to: after determining the uplink signal strength of an unassociated link between the first device and the second device according to the management message, determining the downlink signal strength of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the difference value between the uplink signal strength and the downlink signal strength of any one associated link of the first device, wherein the downlink refers to the direction from the first device to other devices except the first device;

estimating the downlink rate of the unassociated link according to the downlink signal strength of the unassociated link and a second corresponding relationship, wherein the second corresponding relationship is the corresponding relationship between the downlink signal strength interval of the associated link of the first equipment and the downlink rate;

Optionally, the processor 803 is further configured to: determining the channel occupancy rate, the packet loss rate and the protocol overhead of the first equipment according to first data messages sent by a plurality of pieces of equipment which establish connection with the first equipment and second data messages sent to the plurality of pieces of equipment;

when the processor 803 estimates the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, it is specifically configured to: and determining the uplink available bandwidth of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, the channel occupancy rate, the packet loss rate and the protocol overhead, wherein the uplink available bandwidth represents the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link.

Optionally, the processor 803 determines that the uplink available bandwidth of the unassociated link conforms to the following formula:

BW_R＝(1-α)×Rrate×(1-PER)×(1-U)

wherein BW is_RAnd determining the uplink available bandwidth of the unassociated link, wherein alpha is protocol overhead, Rrate is the uplink rate of the unassociated link, PER is packet loss rate, and U is channel occupancy rate.

when the processor 803 estimates the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the downlink rate of the unassociated link, it is specifically configured to: and determining the downlink available bandwidth of the unassociated link according to the downlink rate of the unassociated link, the channel occupancy rate, the packet loss rate and the protocol overhead, wherein the downlink available bandwidth represents the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link.

Optionally, the processor 803 determines that the downlink available bandwidth of the unassociated link conforms to the following formula:

BW_T＝(1-α)×Trate×(1-PER)×(1-U)

Optionally, the communication interface 801 is further configured to: before the processor 803 determines the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relationship, receiving first data packets sent by a plurality of devices associated with the first device, respectively;

the processor 803 is further configured to: respectively determining uplink signal strength and uplink rate of the associated links between the plurality of devices and the first device according to the received first data message; and respectively determining the uplink rate corresponding to each uplink signal strength interval divided in advance according to the determined uplink signal strength and uplink rate of the associated link between the plurality of devices and the first device, and establishing the first corresponding relation.

Optionally, when the processor 803 determines the uplink rates of the associated links between the multiple devices and the first device according to the received first data packet, it is specifically configured to: aiming at a first data message sent by any one of the plurality of devices, determining a modulation and demodulation strategy (MCS) index corresponding to the first data message according to the first data message, and taking a transmission rate corresponding to the MCS index as an uplink rate of an associated connection between the device and the first device;

the processor, when determining, according to the determined uplink signal strengths and uplink rates of the associated links between the multiple devices and the first device, the uplink rates corresponding to each of the uplink signal strength intervals divided in advance, is specifically configured to: for any one of the uplink signal strength intervals, the first device determines, according to the determined uplink signal strength of the associated link between the multiple devices and the first device, an MCS index, of which the uplink signal strength appears most frequently in MCS indexes corresponding to the first data packet in the uplink signal strength interval; and determining the transmission rate corresponding to the MCS index with the largest occurrence number as the uplink rate corresponding to the uplink signal strength interval.

Optionally, the communication interface 801 is further configured to: before the processor 803 determines the downlink rate of the unassociated link according to the downlink signal strength of the unassociated link and the second corresponding relationship, second data messages are respectively sent to the multiple devices associated with the first device; and receiving downlink signal strength and downlink rate of an associated link between the plurality of devices and the first device, which are sent by the plurality of devices, respectively, and for any one of the plurality of devices, the downlink signal strength and the downlink rate sent by the device are determined by the device according to the received second data message;

the processor 803 is further configured to: before determining the downlink rate of the unassociated link according to the downlink signal strength of the unassociated link and the second corresponding relationship, respectively determining the downlink rate corresponding to each downlink signal strength interval which is divided in advance according to the received downlink signal strength and downlink rate of the associated link between the plurality of devices and the first device, and establishing the second corresponding relationship.

Optionally, the processor 803 is further configured to: after the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link is determined according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, if the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link is larger than a first threshold value, the first device allows the second device to establish association with the first device and access the wireless network, and otherwise, the first device refuses the second device to access the wireless network through the first device.

Optionally, the processor 803 is further configured to: after estimating the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, if the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link is greater than a first threshold and the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link is greater than a second threshold, the first device allows the second device to establish association with the first device and access the wireless network, and otherwise, the first device refuses the second device to access the wireless network through the first device.

Optionally, the memory 802 is further configured to store the first corresponding relationship and/or the second corresponding relationship established by the processor 803. The memory 802 may comprise RAM, and may also include non-volatile memory (non-volatile memory), such as at least one disk memory.

The embodiment of the application provides a device, which can determine an uplink rate of an unassociated link between the device and other devices according to a management message broadcast by the other devices unassociated with the device and a first corresponding relationship, and determine communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, so that the measurement of the communication quality of the unassociated link between the devices in a wireless network is realized, the devices in the wireless network can determine whether to allow the other devices unassociated with the device to access the wireless network through the devices according to the measured communication quality of the unassociated link, and further, the purpose of improving the communication quality of the other devices after accessing the wireless network can be achieved.

In summary, in the method, a first device determines an uplink signal strength of an unassociated link between the first device and a second device according to a management packet, which is broadcast by the second device unassociated with the first device, for requesting to access a wireless network through the first device, then determines an uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and a first corresponding relationship, and then estimates an uplink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, where the second device can access the wireless network through the first device after establishing an association with the first device, and the uplink refers to a direction from other devices except the first device to the first device, the first corresponding relation comprises a corresponding relation between an uplink signal strength interval of an associated link of the first device and an uplink rate, the associated link is a link between the device which is associated with the first device and the first device, and measurement of communication quality of an unassociated link between devices in a wireless network is achieved, so that the first device can determine whether to allow the second device to access the wireless network through the first device according to the measured communication quality of the unassociated link, and the purpose of improving the communication quality of the second device after the second device accesses the wireless network can be achieved.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the embodiments of the present application without departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the embodiments of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is also intended to encompass such modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A method for measuring communication quality of unassociated links in a wireless network is characterized by comprising the following steps:

the method comprises the steps that a first device receives a management message which is broadcasted by a second device which is not associated with the first device and used for requesting to access a wireless network through the first device, and the second device can access the wireless network through the first device after the second device is associated with the first device;

the first device determines the uplink signal strength of an unassociated link between the first device and the second device according to the signal strength of the management message, wherein the uplink refers to the direction from other devices except the first device to the first device;

the first device estimates the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and a first corresponding relation, wherein the first corresponding relation comprises a corresponding relation between an uplink signal strength interval of an associated link of the first device and the uplink rate, and the associated link is a link between the device which is associated with the first device and the first device;

and the first equipment determines the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein after the first device receives a management message broadcasted by a second device unassociated with the first device requesting access to a wireless network by the first device, before estimating the uplink rate of the unassociated link based on the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first correspondence, the method further comprises:

the first equipment determines the signal-to-noise ratio of the unassociated link according to the management message;

the first device estimates the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relationship, and the method includes:

the first device estimates the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link, the signal-to-noise ratio of the unassociated link, and the first corresponding relationship, where the first corresponding relationship specifically includes the signal-to-noise ratio of the associated link of the first device, and the corresponding relationship between the uplink signal strength interval and the uplink rate.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein after the first device determines the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link between the first device and the second device from the signal strength of the management packet, the method further comprises:

the first device determines the downlink signal strength of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the difference value between the uplink signal strength and the downlink signal strength of any one associated link of the first device, wherein the downlink refers to the direction from the first device to other devices except the first device;

the first device estimates the downlink rate of the unassociated link according to the downlink signal strength of the unassociated link and a second corresponding relation, wherein the second corresponding relation is the corresponding relation between the downlink signal strength interval of the associated link of the first device and the downlink rate;

and the first equipment determines the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the downlink rate of the unassociated link.

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

the first equipment determines the channel occupancy rate, the packet loss rate and the protocol overhead of the first equipment according to first data messages sent by a plurality of pieces of equipment which establish connection with the first equipment and second data messages sent to the plurality of pieces of equipment;

the first device estimates the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, and the method comprises the following steps:

and the first device determines the uplink available bandwidth of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, the channel occupancy rate, the packet loss rate and the protocol overhead, wherein the uplink available bandwidth represents the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first device determines the uplink available bandwidth of the unassociated link according to the following equation:

BW_R＝(1-α)×Rrate×(1-PER)×(1-U)

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the method further comprises:

the first device estimates the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the downlink rate of the unassociated link, and the estimation method comprises the following steps:

and the first equipment determines the downlink available bandwidth of the unassociated link according to the downlink rate of the unassociated link, the channel occupancy rate, the packet loss rate and the protocol overhead, wherein the downlink available bandwidth represents the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first device determines the downlink available bandwidth of the unassociated link in accordance with the following equation:

BW_T＝(1-α)×Trate×(1-PER)×(1-U)

8. The method of any of claims 1-7, wherein before the first device determines the uplink rate of the unassociated link based on the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first correspondence, the method further comprises:

the first equipment receives first data messages sent by a plurality of pieces of equipment which are associated with the first equipment respectively;

the first device respectively determines uplink signal strength and uplink rate of the associated links between the multiple devices and the first device according to the received first data message;

and the first equipment respectively determines the uplink rate corresponding to each uplink signal strength interval divided in advance according to the determined uplink signal strength and uplink rate of the associated link between the plurality of equipment and the first equipment, and establishes the first corresponding relation.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first device determines uplink rates of the associated links between the plurality of devices and the first device according to the received first data packet, respectively, and comprises:

for a first data packet sent by any one of the plurality of devices, the first device determines, according to the first data packet, a modulation and demodulation strategy (MCS) index corresponding to the first data packet, and uses a transmission rate corresponding to the MCS index as an uplink rate of an associated connection between the device and the first device;

the first device determines, according to the determined uplink signal strengths and uplink rates of the associated links between the multiple devices and the first device, the uplink rate corresponding to each uplink signal strength interval divided in advance, including:

for any one of the uplink signal strength intervals, the first device determines, according to the determined uplink signal strength of the associated link between the multiple devices and the first device, an MCS index, of which the uplink signal strength appears most frequently in MCS indexes corresponding to the first data packet in the uplink signal strength interval;

and the first equipment determines the transmission rate corresponding to the MCS index with the maximum occurrence number as the uplink rate corresponding to the uplink signal strength interval.

10. The method of claim 3, wherein before the first device determines the downlink rate of the unassociated link based on the downlink signal strength of the unassociated link and the second correspondence, the method further comprises:

the first equipment respectively sends second data messages to a plurality of pieces of equipment which are associated with the first equipment;

the first device receives downlink signal strength and downlink rate of an associated link between the multiple devices and the first device, which are sent by the multiple devices, respectively, and for any one of the multiple devices, the downlink signal strength and the downlink rate sent by the device are determined by the device according to the received second data message;

and the first equipment respectively determines the downlink rate corresponding to each downlink signal strength interval which is divided in advance according to the received downlink signal strength and downlink rate of the associated link between the plurality of equipment and the first equipment, and establishes the second corresponding relation.

11. The method of any one of claims 1-10, wherein after the first device determines the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link based on the uplink rate of the unassociated link, the method further comprises:

and if the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link is greater than a first threshold value, the first equipment allows the second equipment to establish association with the first equipment and access the wireless network, otherwise, the first equipment refuses the second equipment to access the wireless network through the first equipment.

12. The method of claim 3, wherein after the first device estimates the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link from the uplink rate of the unassociated link, the method further comprises:

if the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link is larger than a first threshold value and the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link is larger than a second threshold value, the first device allows the second device to establish association with the first device and access the wireless network, and otherwise, the first device refuses the second device to access the wireless network through the first device.

13. An apparatus, characterized in that the apparatus is a first apparatus comprising:

a communication interface, configured to receive a management packet, which is broadcasted by a second device that is not associated with the first device and is used to request access to a wireless network through the first device, where the second device can access the wireless network through the first device after establishing association with the first device;

a memory for storing program instructions;

a processor, configured to determine, according to the signal strength of the management packet, an uplink signal strength of an unassociated link between the first device and the second device; estimating the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relation; determining the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link;

14. The device of claim 13, wherein the processor is further configured to: after the communication interface receives a management message which is broadcasted by a second device which is not associated with the first device and is used for requesting to access a wireless network through the first device, determining the signal-to-noise ratio of the unassociated link according to the management message before estimating the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relation;

the processor, when estimating the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relationship, is specifically configured to: and estimating the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link, the signal-to-noise ratio of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relationship, wherein the first corresponding relationship specifically comprises the signal-to-noise ratio of the associated link of the first equipment, and the corresponding relationship between the uplink signal strength interval and the uplink rate.

15. The device of claim 13 or 14, wherein the processor is further configured to:

after determining the uplink signal strength of an unassociated link between the first device and the second device according to the management message, determining the downlink signal strength of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the difference value between the uplink signal strength and the downlink signal strength of any one associated link of the first device, wherein the downlink refers to the direction from the first device to other devices except the first device;

16. The device of any of claims 13-15, wherein the processor is further configured to: the first equipment determines the channel occupancy rate, the packet loss rate and the protocol overhead of the first equipment according to first data messages sent by a plurality of pieces of equipment which establish connection with the first equipment and second data messages sent to the plurality of pieces of equipment;

when the processor estimates the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, the processor is specifically configured to: and determining the uplink available bandwidth of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, the channel occupancy rate, the packet loss rate and the protocol overhead, wherein the uplink available bandwidth represents the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the processor determines the uplink available bandwidth of the unassociated link according to the following formula:

BW_R＝(1-α)×Rrate×(1-PER)×(1-U)

18. The device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to: determining the channel occupancy rate, the packet loss rate and the protocol overhead of the first equipment according to first data messages sent by a plurality of pieces of equipment which establish connection with the first equipment and second data messages sent to the plurality of pieces of equipment;

when the processor estimates the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the downlink rate of the unassociated link, the processor is specifically configured to: and determining the downlink available bandwidth of the unassociated link according to the downlink rate of the unassociated link, the channel occupancy rate, the packet loss rate and the protocol overhead, wherein the downlink available bandwidth represents the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processor determines the downlink available bandwidth of the unassociated link according to the following equation:

BW_T＝(1-α)×Trate×(1-PER)×(1-U)

wherein BW is_TAnd the uplink is the downlink available bandwidth of the unassociated link, alpha is the protocol overhead, Trate is the downlink rate of the unassociated link, PER is the packet loss rate, and U is the channel occupancy rate.

20. The device of any of claims 13-19, wherein the communication interface is further to: before the processor determines the uplink rate of the unassociated link according to the uplink signal strength of the unassociated link and the first corresponding relation, receiving first data messages sent by a plurality of devices which are associated with the first device respectively;

the processor is further configured to: respectively determining uplink signal strength and uplink rate of the associated links between the plurality of devices and the first device according to the received first data message; and respectively determining the uplink rate corresponding to each uplink signal strength interval divided in advance according to the determined uplink signal strength and uplink rate of the associated link between the plurality of devices and the first device, and establishing the first corresponding relation.

21. The device according to claim 20, wherein the processor, when determining the uplink rates of the associated links between the plurality of devices and the first device according to the received first data packet, is specifically configured to:

the processor, when determining, according to the determined uplink signal strength and uplink rate of the associated link between the multiple devices and the first device, the uplink rate corresponding to each uplink signal strength interval divided in advance, is specifically configured to:

for any one of the uplink signal strength intervals, the first device determines, according to the determined uplink signal strength of the associated link between the multiple devices and the first device, an MCS index, of which the uplink signal strength appears most frequently in MCS indexes corresponding to the first data packet in the uplink signal strength interval; and the first equipment determines the transmission rate corresponding to the MCS index with the maximum occurrence frequency as the uplink rate corresponding to the uplink signal strength interval.

22. The device of claim 15, wherein the communication interface is further to: before the processor determines the downlink rate of the unassociated link according to the downlink signal strength of the unassociated link and the second corresponding relation, respectively sending second data messages to a plurality of devices associated with the first device; receiving downlink signal strength and downlink rate of an associated link between the plurality of devices and the first device, which are sent by the plurality of devices, respectively, and for any one of the plurality of devices, the downlink signal strength and the downlink rate sent by the device are determined by the device according to the received second data message;

the processor is further configured to: and respectively determining the downlink rate corresponding to each downlink signal strength interval which is divided in advance according to the received downlink signal strength and downlink rate of the associated link between the plurality of devices and the first device, and establishing the second corresponding relation.

23. The device of any of claims 13-22, wherein the processor is further configured to:

after the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link is determined according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, if the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link is larger than a first threshold value, the first device allows the second device to establish association with the first device and access the wireless network, and otherwise, the first device refuses the second device to access the wireless network through the first device.

24. The device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to:

after estimating the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link according to the uplink rate of the unassociated link, if the uplink communication quality of the unassociated link is greater than a first threshold and the downlink communication quality of the unassociated link is greater than a second threshold, the first device allows the second device to establish association with the first device and access the wireless network, and otherwise, the first device refuses the second device to access the wireless network through the first device.

25. A computer storage medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1-12 when invoked by the computer.