CN110536353B

CN110536353B - Flow control method and device

Info

Publication number: CN110536353B
Application number: CN201910695766.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 王雅辉; 树贵明; 郜文美
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2014-05-26
Filing date: 2014-12-30
Publication date: 2022-08-26
Anticipated expiration: 2034-12-30
Also published as: CN105379349B; CN110536353A; CN105379349A

Abstract

A flow control method and a device are provided, the flow control method comprises: the slave machine receives a notification message sent by the host machine; the notification message carries a network type used by the host, wherein the network type comprises a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type; if the network type used by the host computer is the cellular network type, the slave computer limits the application program on the slave computer to use the network flow; and the slave machine accesses the Internet by taking the host machine as an access point. The invention can limit the use of the network flow by the application program on the slave machine when the host machine uses the cellular network type network, thereby saving the flow.

Description

Flow control method and device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of network technologies, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for controlling traffic.

Background

With the development of network technologies, the electronic devices owned by users access the internet in various ways, for example, the electronic devices may access the internet through mobile hotspots established by other electronic devices. The device for establishing the mobile hotspot is a host computer, and the device for accessing the hotspot is a slave computer. The host computer starts the mobile hotspot and is connected to the Internet, and the slave computer accesses the Internet by taking the mobile hotspot of the host computer as an access point. When the host is connected to the internet through the cellular network, the slave accesses the internet by using the data traffic of the host. In this case, for the slave, the network type used by the slave is the wireless local area network type, and since the application program is usually in the slave, the application program automatically performs an operation corresponding to the network type used by the slave according to the network type used by the slave. For example, if the network type used by the slave is a wireless local area network type, the slave does not limit the use of the network traffic by the application on the slave, for example, the application automatically updates the version, which consumes a lot of network traffic. Therefore, when the network type used by the master is a cellular network type, since the slave performs an operation corresponding to the wireless lan type, a lot of network traffic is wasted without the knowledge of the user.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a flow control method and a flow control device, which can be used for limiting the use of network flow by an application program on a slave when a host uses a cellular network type network, thereby saving the flow.

A first aspect of the present invention provides a flow control method, which may include:

the slave machine receives a notification message sent by the host machine; the notification message carries a network type used by the host, wherein the network type comprises a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type;

if the network type used by the host computer is the cellular network type, the slave computer limits the application program on the slave computer to use the network flow;

and the slave machine accesses the Internet by taking the host machine as an access point.

In a first possible implementation manner, based on the first aspect, the slave limiting the use of the network traffic by the application on the slave includes:

the slave machine closes the data connection of a preset application program with high consumption flow in the application programs on the slave machine, so that the internet access permission of the preset application program is closed, and the use of the network flow by the application programs on the slave machine is reduced; or,

the slave computer informs all the application programs on the slave computer, wherein the informing content comprises that the network type used by the master computer is the cellular network type, so that all the application programs on the slave computer run according to a preset running mode corresponding to the cellular network type, and the use of the network flow by the application programs on the slave computer is limited.

Based on the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner, before the slave machine closes the data connection of the preset application program consuming a large amount of traffic in the application programs on the slave machine, the method further includes:

the slave computer downloads at least one application program and records the type information of each application program;

and the slave machine divides the at least one application program into at least one category according to the type information of each application program, and determines all application programs in a preset category as the preset application programs.

Based on the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation manner, before the slave machine closes a data connection of a preset application program consuming a large flow in the application programs on the slave machine, the method further includes:

the slave computer counts the flow used by each application program in all the application programs on the slave computer in unit time, and determines the application program of which the flow used in unit time exceeds a preset threshold as the preset application program.

Based on the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the notification message is a beacon frame, and the network type used by the host is encapsulated in a newly added information element of the beacon frame, where the newly added information element is a newly defined information element or an information element in an existing standard;

after the slave receives the notification message sent by the host, the method further comprises:

the slave machine acquires the newly added information element from the beacon frame;

and the slave machine analyzes the network type used by the master machine from the newly added information element.

In a fifth possible implementation manner based on the first aspect, the receiving, by the slave, the notification message sent by the master includes:

and the slave machine receives the notification message sent by the master machine in a first preset period.

Based on the first aspect, the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the fourth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, or the fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner, if the network type used by the master is the cellular network type, after the slave limits the use of the network traffic by the application program on the slave, the method further includes:

the slave scans for the presence of other access points that are available;

if other available access points exist, the slave machine selects an alternative access point from the other access points, and the network type used by the alternative access point is a wireless local area network type;

and the slave is switched to the alternative access point from the access point of the master, and accesses the Internet through the alternative access point.

In a seventh possible implementation manner, based on the sixth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, if the alternative access point includes at least two access points;

before the slave is switched from the access point of the master to the alternative access point and accesses the internet by using the alternative access point, the method further includes:

the slave machine compares the priority order of each access point in the alternative access points;

the slave is switched from the access point of the master to the alternative access point and accesses the internet by using the alternative access point, and the method comprises the following steps:

and the slave computer is switched from the access point of the master computer to the access point with the highest priority in the alternative access points and accesses the Internet through the access point with the highest priority.

In an eighth possible implementation manner, based on the seventh possible implementation manner of the first aspect, before the receiving, by the slave, the notification message sent by the master, the method further includes:

the slave sets a priority order of a plurality of access points, the plurality of access points including the alternative access point.

In a ninth possible implementation manner, based on the eighth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the slave sets a priority order of the plurality of access points, and includes:

the slave computer acquires the priority sequence of each access point in the plurality of access points set by a user; or,

and the slave computer counts the use time of each access point in the plurality of access points used by the slave computer in a preset time period, and determines the priority order of each access point in the plurality of access points according to the use time of each access point in the plurality of access points.

A second aspect of the present invention provides a traffic control method, which may include:

the method comprises the steps that a host computer obtains the network type of a currently used network, wherein the network type comprises a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type;

the master machine sends a notification message to a slave machine, wherein the notification message carries the network type, so that when the network type is the cellular network type, the slave machine limits the use of the network flow by an application program on the slave machine;

Based on the second aspect, in a first possible implementation manner, after the master acquires the network type of the currently used network, before the master sends a notification message to the slave, the method further includes:

the host encapsulates the network type in a newly added information element, wherein the newly added information element is a newly defined information element or an information element in the existing standard;

and the host encapsulates the newly added information element in a beacon frame and determines the beacon frame as the notification message.

In a second possible implementation manner based on the second aspect, the sending, by the master, the notification message to the slave includes:

and the master machine sends a notification message to the slave machine in a second preset period.

A third aspect of the present invention provides a flow control slave device, which may include:

the receiving module is used for receiving a notification message sent by the host device; the notification message carries a network type used by the host, wherein the network type comprises a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type;

the limiting module is used for limiting the application program on the slave machine to use the network flow if the network type used by the master machine is the cellular network type;

wherein the slave device accesses the internet using the master device as an access point.

Based on the third aspect, in a first possible implementation manner, the control module is specifically configured to, if the network type used by the master device is the cellular network type, close a data connection of a preset application program that consumes a larger traffic in an application program on the slave device, so as to close an internet access permission of the preset application program, and reduce the usage of the network traffic by the application program on the slave device; or,

the control module is specifically configured to notify all applications on the slave device, where the notification content includes that the network type used by the master device is the cellular network type, so that all applications on the slave device operate according to a preset operation mode corresponding to the cellular network type, thereby limiting the application on the slave device from using the network traffic.

In a second possible implementation manner, based on the first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the apparatus further includes:

the downloading module is used for downloading at least one application program and recording the type information of each application program;

and the classification module is used for dividing the at least one application program into at least one category according to the type information of each application program, and determining all application programs in a preset category as the preset application programs.

In a third possible implementation manner based on the first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the apparatus further includes:

and the counting module is used for counting the flow used by each application program in all the application programs on the slave computer in unit time, and determining the application program of which the flow used in unit time exceeds a preset threshold as the preset application program.

Based on the third aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the notification message is a beacon frame, and the network type used by the host is encapsulated in a newly added information element of the beacon frame, where the newly added information element is a newly defined information element or an information element in an existing standard; the device further comprises:

a first obtaining module, configured to obtain the new information element from the beacon frame;

and the analysis module is used for analyzing the network type used by the host from the newly added information element.

Based on the third aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner, the receiving module is specifically configured to receive, at a first preset period, a notification message sent by the host.

Based on the third aspect, or the first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, or the second possible implementation manner of the third aspect, or the third possible implementation manner of the third aspect, or the fourth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, or the fifth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner, the apparatus further includes:

a scanning module for scanning whether there are other available access points;

the selection module is used for selecting an alternative access point from other access points if other available access points exist, and the network type used by the alternative access point is a wireless local area network type;

and the switching module is used for switching the access point of the host to the alternative access point and accessing the Internet through the alternative access point.

In a seventh possible implementation manner, based on the sixth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, if the alternative access points include at least two access points; the device further comprises:

the comparison module is used for comparing the priority order of each access point in the alternative access points;

the switching module is specifically configured to switch the access point of the host to the access point with the highest priority among the alternative access points, and access the internet through the access point with the highest priority.

In an eighth possible implementation manner, based on the seventh possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the apparatus further includes:

a setting module, configured to set a priority order of a plurality of access points, where the plurality of access points include the alternative access point.

Based on the eighth possible implementation manner of the third aspect, in a ninth possible implementation manner, the setting module is specifically configured to obtain a priority order of each of the multiple access points set by the user; or,

the setting module is specifically configured to count a usage duration of each access point in the plurality of access points used by the slave device within a preset time period, and determine a priority order of each access point in the plurality of access points according to the usage duration of each access point in the plurality of access points.

A fourth aspect of the present invention provides a flow control host device, which may comprise:

the second acquisition module is used for acquiring the network type of the currently used network, wherein the network type comprises a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type;

a sending module, configured to send a notification message to a slave device, where the notification message carries the network type, so that when the network type is the cellular network type, the slave device restricts use of network traffic by an application program on the slave device;

In a first possible embodiment based on the fourth aspect, the apparatus further includes:

the first encapsulation module is used for encapsulating the network type in a newly added information element, wherein the newly added information element is a newly defined information element or an information element in the existing standard;

and the second packaging module is used for packaging the newly added information element into a beacon frame and determining the beacon frame as the notification message.

Based on the fourth aspect, in a second possible implementation manner, the sending module is specifically configured to send a notification message to the slave machine at a second preset period.

A fifth aspect of the present invention provides a flow control slave device, which may comprise a receiver and a processor, wherein:

the receiver is used for receiving a notification message sent by a host device; the notification message carries a network type used by the host, wherein the network type comprises a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type;

the processor is configured to limit the use of the network traffic by the application program on the slave machine if the network type used by the master machine is the cellular network type;

Based on the fifth aspect, in a first possible implementation manner, if the network type used by the master device is the cellular network type, the processor is further configured to close a data connection of a preset application program consuming a larger flow in the slave on-board application program, so as to close an internet access permission of the preset application program, and reduce the use of the network flow by the slave on-board application program; or,

the processor is further configured to notify all applications on the slave device, where the notification content includes that the network type used by the master device is the cellular network type, so that all applications on the slave device operate according to a preset operation mode corresponding to the cellular network type, thereby limiting the application on the slave device from using the network traffic.

In a second possible implementation manner, based on the first possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the processor is further configured to download at least one application program, and record type information of each of the application programs;

the processor is further configured to divide the at least one application program into at least one category according to the type information of each application program, and determine all application programs in a preset category as the preset application program.

In a third possible implementation manner, based on the first possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the processor is further configured to count the flow rates used by the respective applications in all the applications on the slave computer in a unit time, and determine the application with the flow rate exceeding a preset threshold in the unit time as the preset application.

Based on the fifth aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the notification message is a beacon frame, and the network type used by the host is encapsulated in a newly added information element of the beacon frame, where the newly added information element is a newly defined information element or an information element in an existing standard;

the processor is further configured to obtain the new information element from the beacon frame;

the processor is further configured to parse out a network type used by the host from the new information element.

In a fifth possible implementation manner according to the fifth aspect, the receiver is further configured to receive the notification message sent by the host at the first preset period.

Based on the fifth aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect or the second possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect or the third possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect or the fourth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect or the fifth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner, the receiver is further configured to scan whether there are other available access points;

the processor is further configured to select an alternative access point from other access points if other available access points exist, where a network type used by the alternative access point is a wireless local area network type;

the processor is further configured to switch from the access point of the host to the alternative access point and access the internet through the alternative access point.

In a seventh possible implementation manner, based on the sixth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, if the alternative access points include at least two access points;

the processor is further configured to compare the priority order of each of the alternative access points;

the processor is further used for switching the access point of the host to the access point with the highest priority in the alternative access points and accessing the internet through the access point with the highest priority.

In an eighth possible implementation manner, based on the seventh possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the processor is further configured to set a priority order of a plurality of access points, where the plurality of access points includes the alternative access point.

In a ninth possible implementation manner, based on the eighth possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the processor is further configured to obtain a priority order of each of the plurality of access points set by a user; or,

the processor is further configured to count usage durations of the slave machines using the access points in the plurality of access points within a preset time period, and determine a priority order of the access points according to the usage durations of the access points in the plurality of access points.

A sixth aspect of the present invention provides a flow control host device, which may comprise a processor and a transmitter, wherein:

the processor is used for acquiring the network type of a currently used network, wherein the network type comprises a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type;

the transmitter is configured to send a notification message to a slave device, where the notification message carries the network type, so that when the network type is the cellular network type, the slave device restricts an application program on the slave device from using network traffic;

In a first possible implementation manner based on the sixth aspect, the processor is further configured to encapsulate the network type in a new information element, where the new information element is a newly defined information element or an information element in an existing standard;

the processor is further configured to encapsulate the new information element in a beacon frame, and determine the beacon frame as the notification message.

In a second possible embodiment based on the sixth aspect, the transmitter is further configured to send a notification message to the slave at a second preset period.

A seventh aspect of the present invention provides a flow control method, including:

receiving a notification message sent by a master machine by a slave machine, wherein the notification message is used for indicating the network type used by the master machine to the slave machine;

the slave machine controls the use of network flow by the slave machine based on the network type used by the master machine;

and the slave machines access the Internet by taking the master machine as an access point.

In a first possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the notification message includes a device type identifier of the host;

before the slave machine controls the use of the network traffic by the slave machine based on the network type used by the master machine, the method further includes:

and the slave machine obtains the network type used by the host machine according to the equipment type identification of the host machine.

In a second possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, based on the seventh aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the network type includes a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type.

In a third possible implementation manner of the seventh aspect, the controlling, by the slave, usage of network traffic by the slave based on a network type used by the master includes:

if the network type used by the master computer is a cellular network type, the slave computer changes the identification parameter used for representing the network type used by the master computer into the identification parameter used for representing the cellular network type, so that the application program on the slave computer obtains the identification parameter and operates according to a preset operation mode corresponding to the cellular network type on the basis of the identification parameter, and the application program on the slave computer is controlled to use the network flow.

An eighth aspect of the present invention provides a flow control slave device, where the receiving module is configured to receive a notification message sent by a master, where the notification message is used to indicate, to the slave, a network type used by the master;

the control module is used for controlling the slave computer to use the network flow based on the network type used by the master computer;

In a first possible implementation manner of the eighth aspect, the notification message includes a device type identifier of the host; the device further comprises:

and the acquisition module is used for acquiring the network type used by the host according to the equipment type identifier of the host.

In a second possible implementation manner of the eighth aspect, based on the eighth aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the eighth aspect, the network type includes a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type.

Based on the eighth aspect, in a third feasible implementation manner of the eighth aspect, the control module is specifically configured to, if the network type used by the master is a cellular network type, change an identification parameter used for indicating the network type used by the master to an identification parameter used for indicating the cellular network type, so that the application program on the slave acquires the identification parameter and operates according to a preset operation manner corresponding to the cellular network type based on the identification parameter, thereby controlling the application program on the slave to use the network traffic.

A ninth aspect of the present invention provides a flow control slave device, comprising:

the receiver is used for receiving a notification message sent by a master, wherein the notification message is used for indicating the network type used by the master to the slave;

a processor for controlling the use of network traffic by the slave based on the network type used by the master;

In a first possible implementation manner of the ninth aspect, the notification message includes a device type identifier of the host;

the processor is further configured to obtain a network type used by the host according to the device type identifier of the host.

In a second possible implementation manner of the ninth aspect, based on the ninth aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the ninth aspect, the network type includes a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type.

In a third possible implementation manner of the ninth aspect, the controlling the usage of the network traffic by the slave based on the network type used by the master includes:

if the network type used by the master is the cellular network type, changing the identification parameter used for representing the network type used by the master into the identification parameter used for representing the cellular network type, so that the application program on the slave acquires the identification parameter and operates according to a preset operation mode corresponding to the cellular network type based on the identification parameter, and the application program on the slave is controlled to use the network traffic.

In the embodiment of the invention, when the slave machine uses the host machine as an access point to access the Internet, the slave machine receives the notification message issued by the host machine, the notification message carries the network type used by the host machine, and when the network type used by the host machine is a cellular network type, the slave machine limits the use of the network flow by the application program on the slave machine.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the drawings without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is a schematic flow chart of a flow control method according to the present invention;

FIG. 1-a is a block diagram of a flow control system according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic flow chart of another flow control method provided by the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of another flow control method provided in the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart of another flow control method provided in the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow chart of another flow control method provided in the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of another flow control method provided in the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic flow chart of another flow control method provided in the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart of another flow control method provided in the present invention;

fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart of another flow control method provided in the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic flow chart of another flow control method provided in the present invention;

FIG. 1-b is a flow chart of information interaction between a master and a slave according to the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a flow control slave device according to the present invention;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural view of another flow control slave device provided in the present invention;

fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of another flow control slave device provided in the present invention;

fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of another flow control slave device provided in the present invention;

fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a flow control host device according to the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of another flow control host device according to the present invention;

fig. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of another flow control slave device provided in the present invention;

fig. 18 is a schematic structural diagram of another flow control host device according to the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a flow chart illustrating another flow control method according to the present invention;

fig. 20 is a schematic structural diagram of another flow control slave device provided in the present invention;

fig. 21 is a schematic structural diagram of another flow control slave device according to the present invention.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the slave may be a Mobile phone, a Tablet Personal Computer (Tablet Personal Computer), a Laptop Computer (Laptop Computer), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a Mobile Internet Device (MID), a Wearable Device (Wearable Device), or the like. The host may be a 3G wireless router, a Mobile phone, a Tablet Personal Computer (Tablet Personal Computer), a Laptop Computer (Laptop Computer), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a Mobile Internet Device (MID), a Wearable Device (Wearable Device), or the like. The flow control method of the embodiment of the invention can be applied to mobile hotspots, the host accesses the internet through a cellular network and establishes the mobile hotspot (portable WLAN hotspot), other slave machines access the internet by taking the hotspot established by the host as an access point, and the slave machines access the internet by using the data flow of the host through the hotspot. For the slave, the type of network used is a wireless local area network type. Generally, in an electronic device, a developer presets different operations of an application program in the electronic device when the application program uses different types of networks, and when a wireless local area network is used, the application program in the electronic device does not limit the use of traffic, that is, the operations such as version update and the like are automatically performed. The flow control method provided by the embodiment of the invention can limit the use of the flow by the application program on the slave machine under the condition that the slave machine uses the mobile hot spot and the host machine uses the cellular network type network.

The flow control method according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to fig. 1 to 8.

Fig. 1 is a schematic flow chart of a flow control method according to an embodiment of the present invention; the method may include the following steps S100 to S101.

S100, receiving a notification message sent by a host from a slave; the notification message carries a network type used by the host, wherein the network type comprises a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type;

in one embodiment, the encapsulation of the notification message may be implemented by extending the 802.11 standard protocol, or by extending a device vendor proprietary protocol. The description is made here by taking an implementation by extending the 802.11 standard protocol as an example. The host adds an information element to a Beacon (Beacon) frame, where the information element includes a network type used by the host, and the network type mainly includes a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type, and it should be noted that the cellular network type mainly includes 2G, 3G, 4G, or General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), 3GPP, Long Term Evolution (LTE), or a Mobile communication System (UMTS), CDMA2000, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), and so on. The wireless local area network type mainly includes WLAN or Wi-Fi and the like. The master sends the notification message, namely the broadcast Beacon frame, and the slave receives the notification message sent by the master.

Specifically, as illustrated in the structure diagram of fig. 1-a, the slave receives a Beacon frame through a communication channel connected to the host, a functional module in the slave controlling connection to the host may be a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) module, a bluetooth module, a USB module, or other communication modules, and a Radio Frequency (RF) circuit corresponding to the communication modules specifically implements a communication function, so that Wireless Local Area Network communication, bluetooth communication, infrared communication, or USB communication may be performed between the slave and the host. And after receiving the Beacon frame which is sent by the host and carries the network type used by the host, the physical layer of the slave machine gives the Beacon frame to a Media Access Control (MAC) layer to analyze the Beacon frame, and after analyzing the network type used by the host, the MAC layer stores the network type used by the host. Meanwhile, the slave computer and the host computer are associated by authentication, and after the authentication is passed, the connection with the host computer is established. After the slave establishes connection with the host, the MAC layer informs the application layer operating system of the network type used by the host. Besides the signal strength, security, and whether to encrypt, the WLAN interface of the slave also displays the network type (e.g. 3G) used by the master. Optionally, the network type used by the master may not be displayed, but the network type used by the master may be stored, and is used to inform the operating system of the slave after the connection is established.

Specifically, the process of performing authentication association between the slave and the master is that a user selects the master through a user interface of the slave and inputs a pre-shared key; and then, carrying out a plurality of message interactions, respectively finishing the authentication of the slave machine and the host machine through the pre-shared key, establishing connection between the slave machine and the host machine after the authentication is passed, and respectively calculating the encryption key used for air interface communication by the slave machine and the host machine through the pre-shared key.

Optionally, how the MAC layer notifies the operating system host of the application layer of the network type may be defined by a manufacturer, or may be implemented by a Station Management Entity (SME), where the SME is used as the Station Management Entity and has communication interfaces with the MAC layer and the Wi-Fi module respectively, the driver is registered to the slave operation system and interacts information with the operation system through a message mechanism to be used as an MAC layer of a Wi-Fi protocol stack in the slave, through the interface of the SME and the Wi-Fi module driver, and a message interaction mechanism of the driver and the operating system, and informs the operating system of the type of network currently used by the host, for example, when the host uses a cellular network type, the operating system is informed of the type of network (GPRS/3GPP/LTE, etc.) used by the host to access the cellular network.

Further, before the slave receives the notification message of the master, the slave needs to open the WLAN and search for the network.

S101, if the network type used by the master machine is the cellular network type, the slave machine limits the use of the network flow by the application program on the slave machine;

In one embodiment, when the network type used by the host is a cellular network type, the traffic of the host is limited and cannot be used indefinitely. Although the slave is of the wireless lan type, it is actually necessary to control the use of traffic by an application on the slave, because the slave accesses the internet using the master as an access point, the used traffic is the traffic of the master, and the traffic of the master is limited, and thus the use of traffic by the slave needs to be controlled. For all the application programs in the slave machines, different operations corresponding to different network types are set in the development stage of the application programs, for example, if the application programs are in a wireless local area network type, the application programs can automatically update versions, if the application programs are in a cellular network type, the application programs cannot automatically update versions, and when a user downloads updates, the user also prompts the used flow and prompts whether to continue. Therefore, when the slave machine knows that the network type used by the master machine is the cellular network type, the slave machine controls the application program on the slave machine to perform operation corresponding to the cellular network type, and therefore the use of the network flow by the application program on the slave machine is limited.

Specifically, when the operating system of the slave learns that the network type used by the master is the cellular network type, the slave restricts the use of the network traffic by the application program on the slave, and the specific limiting method may be automatic control by the slave control system, that is, the type of the application program which consumes a large amount of traffic for maintaining the control system, such as video software (downloading video), an application store (updating application program), and the like. And controlling the operating system to automatically close the internet access authority of the application programs. If the user manually clicks the download, the user is prompted as to how much traffic will be consumed, and is asked whether to continue. The specific limiting method may also be that the operating system informs the application program that the network type used by the host is the cellular network type, and the application program runs in a running mode set under the cellular network type. The existing application programs are set to operate differently under the cellular network and the wireless local area network, and the current network state is the cellular network type, so that the application programs of the slaves operate corresponding to the state of the cellular network, and the network traffic of the application programs on the slaves is limited.

In the embodiment of the invention, when the slave machine is accessed to the internet by taking the master machine as the access point, the slave machine receives the notification message sent by the master machine, the notification message carries the network type used by the master machine, and when the network type used by the master machine is the cellular network type, the slave machine limits the application program on the slave machine to use the network flow.

Fig. 2 is a schematic flow chart of another flow control method according to an embodiment of the present invention; the method may include the following steps S200 to S201.

S200, the slave machine receives a notification message sent by the host machine; the notification message carries a network type used by the host, wherein the network type comprises a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type;

step S200 in the embodiment of the present invention may refer to step S100 shown in fig. 1, and is not described herein again.

S201, if the network type used by the master machine is the cellular network type, the slave machine closes the data connection of a preset application program with high consumption flow in the application program on the slave machine, so that the internet access permission of the preset application program is closed, and the use of the network flow by the application program on the slave machine is reduced;

in one embodiment, if the network type used by the master is a cellular network type, the slave closes a preset application program with a large consumption traffic, where the preset application program is generally an application program with a consumption traffic exceeding a preset threshold, and when the network type is the cellular network type, the traffic is limited, so that the preset application programs may be closed, and it should be noted that the preset application program may be video software (downloading video), an application store (updating application program, and the like). The operating system closes the internet access authority of the application programs, and if the user manually clicks to download, a dialog box is popped up to prompt how much traffic is consumed and inquire whether the user continues.

Optionally, after the preset application program is closed, the operating system controls another application program on the slave to perform an operation corresponding to the type of the cellular network, and the another application program on the slave may be an application program of all application programs on the slave except the preset application program. Specifically, the operation mode of the other application program is an operation mode in a cellular network type preset by a developer.

Optionally, the slave may further display the network type used by the master to notify the user that the master uses the cellular network, and when the user uses the network traffic, the user needs to limit the use, for example, the user does not use the application program consuming the traffic, or when the user opens the application program consuming the traffic, the user is prompted as to how much traffic is consumed to remind the user whether to continue.

Optionally, in the above embodiment, the preset application program consuming a larger flow rate has a flow rate threshold, and the data connection is closed after the flow rate consumed by the preset application program exceeds the flow rate threshold, for example, in an application market, an application program update of the application program consumes a lot of flow rate and belongs to the preset application program consuming a larger flow rate, but if only the app browse is opened, and the program is not downloaded or updated, it may also be allowed. That is, whether the flow consumed by the preset application program is greater than a flow threshold is detected, and when the flow consumed by the preset application program is greater than the flow threshold, the data connection of the preset application program is closed.

Fig. 3 is a schematic flow chart of another flow control method according to an embodiment of the present invention; the method may comprise the following steps S300-S301.

S300, the slave machine receives a notification message sent by the host machine; the notification message carries a network type used by the host, wherein the network type comprises a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type;

step S300 in the embodiment of the present invention may refer to step S100 shown in fig. 1, and is not described herein again.

S301, if the network type used by the master is the cellular network type, the slave notifies all the application programs on the slave, where the notification content includes that the network type used by the master is the cellular network type, so that all the application programs on the slave operate according to a preset operation mode corresponding to the cellular network type, thereby limiting the application programs on the slave to use the network traffic.

In an embodiment, the slave device may limit the application program on the slave device to use the network traffic, or the operating system of the slave device notifies all application programs on the slave device, where the notification content includes that the network type used by the master device is the cellular network type, so as to prompt that all application programs on the slave device need to run according to a preset running mode corresponding to the cellular network type, and for each application program, running modes under different network types are preset, for example, under a wireless local area network type, the application program does not limit the used traffic, the application program automatically performs version update, and under the cellular network type, the application program does not automatically perform version update. Thus, when all applications on the slaves are operated in an operating mode corresponding to the cellular network type, less traffic is consumed, and the traffic usage of all applications on the slaves is limited.

Optionally, on the basis of the above embodiment, the operation mode preset by the application program on the slave computer and corresponding to the cellular network type may also be that a user presets whether each application program on the slave computer performs data connection in the cellular network type, and in the current mobile phone, there is a control interface for managing the use of apps for traffic, and the user can set which apps can perform data connection in the cellular network type by himself.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart of another flow control method according to an embodiment of the present invention; the method may include the following steps S400 to S403.

S400, the slave machine receives a notification message sent by the host machine; the notification message carries a network type used by the host, wherein the network type comprises a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type;

step S400 in the embodiment of the present invention may refer to step S100 shown in fig. 1, and is not described herein again.

S401, the slave machine downloads at least one application program and records the type information of each application program;

in one embodiment, the preset application program needs to be preset, and the specific setting manner may be that the slave records type information of each application program when downloading each application program, and the type information may indicate a category of the application program, for example, the type information may be video, entertainment, and the like.

S402, the slave machine divides the at least one application program into at least one category according to the type information of each application program, and determines all application programs in a preset category as the preset application programs.

In one embodiment, the slave machine divides all downloaded applications into at least one category according to the type information of each application, for example, the applications containing video, entertainment and the like in the type information can be classified into a first flow rate category with high flow consumption, and the applications containing chat, text and the like in the type information can be classified into a second flow rate category with low flow consumption.

Further, all the applications in the preset category are determined as the preset applications, for example, the preset category may be a first traffic-consuming category with a large traffic consumption.

S403, if the network type used by the master is the cellular network type, the slave closes the data connection of the preset application program with high consumption flow in the application program on the slave, so as to close the internet access permission of the preset application program, and reduce the use of the network flow by the application program on the slave;

step S403 in the embodiment of the present invention may refer to step S201 shown in fig. 2, which is not described herein again.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of another flow control method according to an embodiment of the present invention; the method may include the following steps S500 to S502.

S500, the slave machine receives a notification message sent by the host machine; the notification message carries a network type used by the host, wherein the network type comprises a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type;

step S500 in the embodiment of the present invention can refer to step S100 shown in fig. 1, and is not described herein again.

S501, the slave machine counts the flow used by each application program in all the application programs on the slave machine in unit time, and determines the application program of which the flow used in unit time exceeds a preset threshold as the preset application program.

In an embodiment, the preset application program may be preset in such a manner that the slave computer counts the flow rate used by each application program in all application programs on the slave computer in a unit time, and the setting of the unit time may be specified by a user, for example, may be two minutes. It should be noted that the statistics are the traffic used by each application program in operation. And determining the application program with the flow rate exceeding the preset threshold value in the unit time as the preset application program.

S502, if the network type used by the master machine is the cellular network type, the slave machine closes the data connection of a preset application program with high consumption flow in the application program on the slave machine, so that the internet access permission of the preset application program is closed, and the use of the network flow by the application program on the slave machine is reduced;

step S502 in the embodiment of the present invention may refer to step S201 shown in fig. 2, and is not described herein again.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of another flow control method according to an embodiment of the present invention; the method may comprise the following steps S600-603.

S600, the slave receives the notification message sent by the master in a first preset period.

As an optional implementation manner, since the notification message including the network type sent by the master to the slave may be sent periodically, the slave usually also operates in the power saving mode, and the slave may not receive every notification message sent by the master, the slave also needs to receive the notification message sent by the master at the first preset period.

S601, the slave machine acquires the new information element from the beacon frame;

as an alternative, the notification message may exist in the form of a beacon frame, and the host may encapsulate the network type used by the host in a new information element in the beacon frame, where the new information element may be a newly defined information element or an information element in an existing standard. Therefore, for the slave side, the slave side needs to acquire the new information element containing the network type used by the master from the received beacon frame, and a specific manner of acquiring the new information element may be to decapsulate the beacon frame.

S602, the slave machine analyzes the network type used by the master machine from the newly added information element.

As an optional implementation manner, the newly added information element includes a network type used by the host, so that the slave needs to analyze the network type used by the host from the newly added information element, and may perform analysis according to a field occupied by the network type in the newly added information element.

S603, if the network type used by the master computer is the cellular network type, the slave computer limits the use of the network flow by the application program on the slave computer;

step S603 in the embodiment of the present invention may refer to step S101 shown in fig. 1, and is not described herein again.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of another flow control method according to an embodiment of the present invention; the method may include the following steps S700 to S704.

S700, the slave machine receives a notification message sent by the host machine; the notification message carries a network type used by the host, wherein the network type comprises a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type;

as an optional implementation manner, the notification manner for notifying the host of the network type used by the notification message may be to carry an identifier capable of indicating the host to use the network type, for example, the identifier may be a device type identifier, and when the host is a mobile device, the identifier may indicate that the host is Android of the mobile device, for example, from an anid 4.1 version, google is uniformly added with an identifier of "Android _ measured". The network type used by the host can be judged to be a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type through the identification. The specific determination mode may be that when the master is a mobile terminal, the master sends its own mobile device type identifier, when the slave parses out that the notification message carries the mobile device type identifier, the slave may determine that the network type used by the master is a cellular network type, and when the notification message does not carry the mobile device type identifier, the slave may determine that the network type used by the master is a wireless local area network type.

S701, if the network type used by the master machine is the cellular network type, the slave machine limits the application program on the slave machine to use the network flow;

step S701 in the embodiment of the present invention refers to step S101 in fig. 1, which is not described herein again.

S702, the slave machine scans whether other available access points exist;

as an alternative, after the slave accesses the internet through the access point of the master, the slave continues to scan whether there are other available access points. Usually, the slave machine will search the SSIDs of other access points as long as it is within the coverage of some other access point.

S703, if other available access points exist, the slave machine selects an alternative access point from the other access points, and the network type used by the alternative access point is a wireless local area network type;

as an alternative implementation, if there are other available access points, that is, the slave searches SSIDs of other access points, the slave needs to select an alternative access point from the other access points, where the network type used by the alternative access point is a wireless local area network type.

The specific selection mode may be determined according to notification messages issued by other access points, where the notification messages carry the network type used by the access point, and when the slave machine analyzes that the network type used by one access point is the wireless local area network type from the received notification messages, the access point is determined as the alternative access point.

Optionally, the slave computer may analyze the network type used by a certain access point from the received notification message in a manner of determining whether the notification message carries a mobile device type identifier, and when the notification message does not carry the mobile device type identifier, it may be determined that the network type used by the master computer is a wireless local area network type.

And S704, the slave is switched to the alternative access point from the access point of the master, and accesses the Internet through the alternative access point.

As an optional implementation manner, in order to save traffic usage of the master, when the slave searches for an alternative access point of which the used network type is the wireless local area network type, the slave is switched from the access point of the previous master to the alternative access point, and accesses the internet through the alternative access point.

Fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart of another flow control method according to an embodiment of the present invention; if the alternative access points comprise at least two access points; the method may include the following steps S800 to S806.

And S800, the slave sets the priority order of a plurality of access points, wherein the plurality of access points comprise the alternative access points.

As an alternative embodiment, the slave may search SSIDs of multiple access points when searching for an access point, and in order to determine an access point that needs to be used, the slave needs to set a priority order of the multiple access points. The priority order may be in the form of high/medium/low or in the form of an arabic data rank, e.g., 1 being highest priority and 5 being lowest priority.

Optionally, the setting manner for setting the priority order may have the following two optional implementations:

in a first optional implementation manner, the slave computer obtains a priority order of each access point in the plurality of access points set by a user;

as an alternative, the user may manually set the priority order of each of the plurality of access points, for example, the priority of the access point as a home router may be set to a high priority. The slave machine acquires the priority order of each access point in the plurality of access points set by the user.

In a second optional implementation manner, the slave machine counts the usage duration of each of the plurality of access points used by the slave machine within a preset time period, and determines the priority order of each of the plurality of access points according to the usage duration of each of the plurality of access points.

As an alternative embodiment, the slave sets the priority order by an automatic learning mode, and the slave tracks the behavior of using each access point for automatic setting, for example, counting the time duration of using each access point in the plurality of access points by the slave within a preset time period, and determining the priority order of each access point in the plurality of access points according to the time duration used. The access point with the longest duration of use may be set to a high priority.

S801, receiving a notification message sent by a host from a slave; the notification message carries a network type used by the host, wherein the network type comprises a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type;

s802, if the network type used by the master machine is the cellular network type, the slave machine limits the application program on the slave machine to use the network flow;

referring to steps S100 to S101 in fig. 1, steps S801 to S802 in the embodiment of the present invention are not described herein again.

S803, the slave scans whether other available access points exist;

s804, if other available access points exist, the slave machine selects an alternative access point from the other access points, and the network type used by the alternative access point is a wireless local area network type;

referring to steps S702 to S703 in fig. 7, steps S803 to S804 in the embodiment of the present invention are not described herein again.

S805, the slave machine compares the priority order of each access point in the alternative access points;

as an optional implementation manner, when the candidate access points include at least two access points, that is, when the slave machine searches for the wireless local area network types used by the at least two access points at the same time, the slave machine needs to compare the priority order of each access point in the candidate access points. It should be noted that, the priority order of each access point in the candidate access points may also be automatically determined according to the signal strength of each access point, for example, the access point with the highest signal strength of the access point is automatically set as the highest priority, and the access point with the lowest signal strength of the access point is automatically set as the lowest priority.

S806, the slave machine is switched from the access point of the master machine to the access point with the highest priority in the alternative access points, and accesses the Internet through the access point with the highest priority.

As an optional implementation manner, the slave is switched from the access point of the master to the access point with the highest priority in the alternative access points, and accesses the internet through the access point with the highest priority, and this access point switching manner can not only save the traffic of the master, but also select the most suitable access point to access the internet.

Fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart of another flow control method according to an embodiment of the present invention; the method may include the following steps S900 to S901.

S900, the host acquires the network type of the currently used network, wherein the network type comprises a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type;

in one embodiment, the host obtains the network type of the currently used network, and in an actual scenario, the host may use a cellular network to access the internet, where the cellular network may be GPRS, 3GPP, LTE, or the like; the host may also access the internet using a wireless local area network, such as Wi-Fi, etc.

It should be noted that before the host obtains the network type of the network currently used, the data network needs to be opened, a mobile hotspot is created, the slave accesses the internet using the mobile hotspot created by the host as an access point, and sends a notification message carrying the network type of the network used by the host to the slave, and the slave uses the data traffic of the host. In addition, if the host creates the mobile hotspot first, establishes connection with the slave and then opens the data network, a notification message carrying the network type used by the host is sent to the slave after the data network is opened.

S901, the master sends a notification message to a slave, wherein the notification message carries the network type, so that when the network type of the slave is the cellular network type, the slave limits the use of the network flow by an application program on the slave;

In an embodiment, after the master acquires the network type of the used network, the network type needs to be sent to the slave in the form of a notification message, and a specific sending method may be to convert the network type into information in a specific format, package the information, and send the information to the slave, so that when the network type of the network used by the slave at the master is the cellular network type, the slave controls an application program on the slave to perform an operation corresponding to the cellular network, thereby restricting the application program on the slave from using the traffic, and reducing the use of the master traffic. Specifically, the process of encapsulating the network type by the host may be based on the extended 802.11 standard protocol or may be based on the proprietary vendor protocol.

Optionally, the encapsulation of the notification message is described based on the extended 802.11 standard Protocol, and the encapsulation of the notification message may include information encapsulation of each layer of a Protocol stack, as shown in fig. 1-a, which is described by taking a Protocol stack structure of a network communication Protocol (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, TCP/IP) as an example. The application layer of the host opens a data network, and after a mobile hotspot is created, the MAC layer encapsulates the network type information used by the host, for example, the network type information can be encapsulated into a Beacon frame, and then the Beacon frame is broadcast by the physical layer. The control host and the slave are connected to a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) module, a bluetooth module, a USB module and other communication modules, and Radio Frequency (RF) circuits corresponding to these communication modules specifically implement a communication function, so that Wireless Local Area Network communication, bluetooth communication, infrared communication or USB communication can be performed between the slave and the host. So that the slave can receive the Beacon frame broadcast by the master.

Specifically, in the 802.11 protocol, the network type may be encapsulated in an Information Element (IE) and then the new Information element, and the process of encapsulating the new Information element may be to encapsulate the new IE into a broadcast frame, and then send the broadcast frame to the slave, that is, send a notification message to the slave. There are three main types of frame structures in 802.11 frames: data frames, control frames, management frames. The body of the management frame contains fixed bits and information elements for carrying information. There are many management frames respectively responsible for various maintenance functions of the link layer, such as Beacon (Beacon) frame, Probe Request (Probe Request), Probe Response (Probe Response), etc. Among them, the Beacon frame is a very important maintenance mechanism, and is mainly used to announce the existence of a certain network. In the basic network, the Beacon frame periodically sent by the host access point can make the slave know the existence of the network, thereby adjusting the parameters necessary for joining the network. Therefore, optionally, the newly added IE may be encapsulated into the Beacon frame.

The format of the Beacon frame comprises a MAC header field and a frame body. Where the frame body contains many options and alternatives (see in particular the IEEE 802.11 standard). The newly added IE of the invention belongs to one content in the Beacon frame body, and the position of the newly added IE in the frame format is not limited. Typically, an IE is a variable Length component of a management frame, typically containing an Element ID field, a Length field, and a field of non-fixed Length.

The new IE involved in the present invention may use a newly defined information element, or may use an existing information element in the 802.11 standard. For example, the "Last" information element of the Beacon frame is "Vendor Specific", which is currently ranked at 56 th, and may be one or more, and furthermore, the information element used in the newly added IE may be customized by the manufacturer. If the existing "Last" information Element is used, then each parameter in the information Element is set, for example, Element ID may be set to 221, Organization Identifier is used to indicate the network operator, and domestic is taken as an example: china Mobile, China Unicom and China telecom, the Vendor-specific content can be used to enumerate network types (such as 2G, 3G, 4G, WLAN; or GPRS, 3GPP, LTE, Wi-Fi, etc.; or any names related to network types such as UMTS, CDMA2000, WCDMA, etc.), and the total Length of the IE is between 3 bytes and 257 bytes.

It should be noted that the host may also first determine whether the network type is the cellular network type, and if the network type is the cellular network type, include the IE in the Beacon frame, and if the network type is the wireless local area network, do not need to include the IE in the Beacon frame.

Fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of another flow control method according to an embodiment of the present invention; the method may include the following steps S1000 to S1003.

S1000, a host acquires a network type of a currently used network, wherein the network type comprises a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type;

step S1000 in the embodiment of the present invention may refer to step S900 shown in fig. 9, and is not described herein again.

S1001, the host encapsulates the network type in a newly added information element, wherein the newly added information element is a newly defined information element or an information element in the existing standard;

as an optional implementation manner, if the encapsulation of the notification message is performed by using the 802.11-compliant protocol, the specific process may be to encapsulate the network type in a new information element, where the new information element is a content in a frame body belonging to a frame format, and it should be noted that a specific position of the new information element in the frame body is not limited.

The new information Element in this embodiment may be a variable Length component of the management frame, and generally includes an Element ID field, a Length field, and a field with a non-fixed Length. Specifically, the new information element may be a newly defined information element, or may use an existing information element in the 802.11 standard. For example, the "Last" information element of the Beacon frame is "Vendor Specific", which is currently ranked 56 th, and may be one or more.

S1002, the host encapsulates the new information element in a beacon frame, and determines the beacon frame as the notification message.

As an optional implementation manner, after the newly added information element is encapsulated, the newly added information element is encapsulated in the Beacon frame, where the Beacon frame is a very important maintenance mechanism and is mainly used to announce the existence of a certain network. In the basic network, the Beacon frame periodically sent by the host access point can make the slave know the existence of the network, thereby adjusting the parameters necessary for joining the network. Therefore, optionally, the newly added IE may be encapsulated in the Beacon frame, and the Beacon frame may be determined as the notification message.

S1003, the master machine sends a notification message to the slave machine in a second preset period, wherein the notification message carries the network type, so that when the network type of the slave machine is the cellular network type, the slave machine limits the use of an application program on the slave machine on network flow;

As an alternative implementation manner, the slave generally operates in the power saving mode, and the slave may receive each notification message sent by the master, so that the master sends the notification message to the slave at the second preset period. It should be noted that the second preset period may be the same as or different from the first preset period.

As shown in fig. 1-b, a schematic flow chart of information interaction between a master and a slave according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in the following drawings:

s0, the host opens the data network, creates the mobile hotspot, and sets the Service Set Identifier (SSID) and the password;

s1, the host computer obtains the used network type, encapsulates the network type in the newly added IE, and encapsulates the newly added IE into the Beacon frame;

specifically, the new IE may use a newly defined information element, or may use an existing information element in the 802.11 standard. For example, the "Last" information element of the Beacon frame is "Vendor Specific", and if the existing "Last" information element is used, the respective parameters in the information element are set.

All the execution steps in this step may be encapsulated by an encapsulation unit in the host.

S2, the slave computer opens the WLAN network and searches the surrounding network;

specifically, for the slave side, after the WLAN switch is turned on, the slave side actively searches for a nearby Wi-Fi network to establish a connection; or when the WLAN is opened, the user receives the prompt of available networks nearby and clicks to establish connection.

S3, the host broadcasts a Beacon frame, the Beacon frame carries a newly added IE, and the newly added IE comprises the network type currently used by the host;

specifically, the mode of broadcasting the Beacon frame by the master may be to periodically broadcast the Beacon frame, and if the slave opens the WLAN, it is prompted that there is an available network. The Beacon frame not only includes the network type currently used by the host, but also includes the SSID of the wireless network.

S4, the slave machine sends a detection request;

specifically, after the slave computer opens the wireless network, a probe request is sent, that is, a protocol request frame is sent, and a nearby network is searched.

S5, the host sends a detection response;

specifically, after receiving the Probe request sent by the slave, the master sends a Probe response to the slave according to the Probe request sent by the slave, that is, sends a Probe response frame, and actually, the information content range included in the Probe response frame is the same as the information content range included in the beacon frame, but what information is specifically included in the Probe response is determined according to the information specifically requested in the Probe request. It is sufficient that the above-mentioned new IE is added to the Beacon frame.

S6, the slave machine analyzes the received Beacon frame or Probe response and displays the SSID and/or the network type;

specifically, the network type slave may not be shown, but the MAC layer of the slave records the network type so as to inform the operating system of the slave of the network type used by the master.

S7, the user selects SSID and inputs password;

s8, the slave machine and the host machine carry out authentication based on the password input by the user and establish connection;

specifically, the slave and the master may authenticate each other through a pre-shared key.

S9, the MAC layer of the slave informs the network type to the operating system;

specifically, the MAC layer may notify the operating system host of the network type used by the operating system host through a Short Message Entity (SME).

S10, the slave operation system automatically controls the application program on the slave to use the flow;

specifically, the operating system control method may be to automatically close the internet access permission of the application program that consumes a large amount of traffic. If the user manually clicks the download, the user is prompted as to how much traffic will be consumed, and is asked whether to continue. The specific control method may also be that the operating system informs the application program that the network type used by the host is the cellular network type, and the application program runs in a running mode set under the cellular network type.

The structure of the flow control device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to fig. 11 to 18. The flow rate control device described below can be applied to the above method.

Fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a flow control slave device according to an embodiment of the present invention; the flow control slave device may include: a receiving module 100 and a limiting module 101.

A receiving module 100, configured to receive a notification message sent by a host device; the notification message carries a network type used by the host, wherein the network type comprises a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type;

in one embodiment, the encapsulation of the notification message may be implemented by extending the 802.11 standard protocol, or by extending a device vendor proprietary protocol. The description is made here by taking an implementation by extending the 802.11 standard protocol as an example. The host adds an information element to a Beacon (Beacon) frame, where the information element includes a network type used by the host, the network type mainly includes a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type, and it should be noted that the cellular network type mainly includes 2G, 3G, 4G, or General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), 3GPP, Long Term Evolution (LTE), or a Mobile communication System (UMTS), CDMA2000, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), and so on. The wireless local area network type mainly comprises WLAN or Wi-Fi and the like. The master sends a notification message, that is, a broadcast Beacon frame, and the slave receiving module 100 receives the notification message sent by the master.

Specifically, as illustrated in the structure diagram of fig. 1-a, the slave receives a Beacon frame through a communication channel connected to the host, a functional module in the slave controlling connection to the host may be a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) module, a bluetooth module, a USB module, or other communication modules, and a Radio Frequency (RF) circuit corresponding to the communication modules specifically implements a communication function, so that Wireless Local Area Network communication, bluetooth communication, infrared communication, or USB communication may be performed between the slave and the host. And after receiving the Beacon frame which is sent by the host and carries the network type used by the host, the physical layer of the slave gives the Beacon frame to a Media Access Control (MAC) layer to analyze the Beacon frame, and after the network type used by the host is analyzed, the MAC layer stores the network type used by the host. Meanwhile, the slave computer is authenticated and associated with the host computer, and after the slave computer passes the authentication, the slave computer is connected with the host computer. After the slave establishes connection with the host, the MAC layer informs the operating system of the application layer of the network type used by the host. Besides the signal strength, security, and whether to encrypt, the WLAN interface of the slave also displays the network type (e.g. 3G) used by the master. Optionally, the network type used by the master may not be displayed, but the network type used by the master may be stored, and the network type used by the master is used to inform the operating system of the slave after the connection is established.

Optionally, how the MAC layer notifies the operating system host of the application layer of the used network type may be defined by a manufacturer, or may be implemented by a Station Management Entity (SME), where the SME is used as a Station Management Entity and has a communication interface with the MAC layer and a driver of the Wi-Fi module respectively, the driver is registered to the slave operation system and interacts information with the operation system through a message mechanism to be used as an MAC layer of a Wi-Fi protocol stack in the slave, through the interface of the SME and the Wi-Fi module driver, and a message interaction mechanism of the driver and the operating system, and informs the operating system of the type of network currently used by the host, for example, when the host uses a cellular network type, the operating system is informed of the type of network (GPRS/3GPP/LTE, etc.) used by the host to access the cellular network.

Further, before the slave receiving module 100 receives the notification message of the master, the slave needs to open the WLAN and search for a network.

Optionally, the receiving module 100 is specifically configured to receive, at a first preset period, a notification message sent by the host.

Specifically, since the notification message including the network type sent by the master to the slave may be periodically sent, and the slave generally operates in the power saving mode, and the slave may not receive every notification message sent by the master, the slave receiving module 100 also needs to receive the notification message sent by the master at the first preset period.

A limiting module 101, configured to limit, if the network type used by the master is the cellular network type, the use of the network traffic by the application program on the slave;

In one embodiment, when the network type used by the host is a cellular network type, the traffic of the host is limited and cannot be used indefinitely. Although the slave is a wireless lan type, it is actually necessary for the control module 101 to control the use of traffic by an application on the slave, because the slave accesses the internet using the master as an access point, the used traffic is the traffic of the master, and the traffic of the master is limited, and thus the use of traffic of the slave needs to be controlled. For all the application programs in the slave machines, different operations corresponding to different network types are set in the development stage of the application programs, for example, if the application programs are in a wireless local area network type, the application programs can automatically update versions, if the application programs are in a cellular network type, the application programs cannot automatically update versions, and when a user downloads updates, the user also prompts the used flow and prompts whether to continue. Therefore, when the slave knows that the network type used by the master is the cellular network type, the control module 101 controls the application program on the slave to perform an operation corresponding to the cellular network type, so as to limit the use of the network traffic by the application program on the slave.

Specifically, when the operating system of the slave learns that the network type used by the master is the cellular network type, the limiting module 101 limits the application program on the slave to use the network traffic, and the specific limiting method may be automatic control by the control system, that is, the type of the application program consuming a large amount of traffic for maintaining the control system, such as video software (downloading video), an application store (updating application program), and the like. The restriction module 10 automatically closes the internet access rights of these applications. If the user manually clicks the download, the user is prompted as to how much traffic will be consumed, and the user is asked whether to continue. The specific limiting method may also be that the operating system informs the application program that the network type used by the host is the cellular network type, and the limiting module 10 controls the application program to run in a running mode set under the cellular network type. The existing application programs are set to operate differently under the cellular network and the wireless local area network, and the current network state is the cellular network type, so that the application programs of the slaves operate corresponding to the state of the cellular network, and the network traffic of the application programs on the slaves is limited.

Specifically, the restriction module 101 is specifically configured to, if the network type used by the master device is the cellular network type, close a data connection of a preset application program that consumes a larger traffic in the application programs on the slave devices, so as to close the internet access permission of the preset application program, and reduce the usage of the network traffic by the application programs on the slave devices;

in one embodiment, if the network type used by the master is a cellular network type, the slave limit module 101 closes a preset application program with high consumption traffic, where the preset application program is generally an application program with consumption traffic exceeding a preset threshold, and when the network type is a cellular network type, the traffic is limited, so that the preset application programs may be closed, and it should be noted that the preset application program may be video software (downloading video), an application store (updating application program, and the like). The operating system closes the internet access authority of the application programs, and if the user manually clicks to download, a dialog box is popped up to prompt how much traffic is consumed and inquire whether the user continues.

Optionally, after the restriction module 101 closes the preset application program, the operating system controls another application program on the slave to perform an operation corresponding to the cellular network type, where the another application program on the slave may be an application program of all application programs on the slave except the preset application program. Specifically, the operation mode of the other application program is an operation mode in a cellular network type preset by a developer.

Optionally, in the above embodiment, the preset application program consuming a large amount of traffic has a traffic threshold, and the limiting module 101 closes the data connection again after the traffic consumed by the preset application program exceeds the traffic threshold, for example, in an application market, the application program update of the application program consumes a lot of traffic, which belongs to the preset application program consuming a large amount of traffic, but it may be allowed if only the app is opened for browsing, and the program is not downloaded or updated. That is, whether the flow consumed by the preset application program is greater than a flow threshold is detected, and when the flow consumed by the preset application program is greater than the flow threshold, the data connection of the preset application program is closed.

Or, the limiting module 101 is specifically configured to, if the network type used by the master device is the cellular network type, notify all the applications on the slave device, where the notification content includes that the network type used by the master device is the cellular network type, so that all the applications on the slave device operate according to a preset operation mode corresponding to the cellular network type, thereby limiting the application on the slave device from using the network traffic.

In an embodiment, the slave limiting module 101 may limit the application program on the slave to use the network traffic, or the slave's operating system notifies all application programs on the slave, where the notification content includes that the network type used by the master is the cellular network type, so as to prompt that all application programs on the slave need to operate according to a preset operation mode corresponding to the cellular network type, and for each application program, operation modes under different network types are preset, for example, under a wireless local area network type, the application program does not limit the used traffic, the application program may automatically perform version update, and under the cellular network type, the application program does not automatically perform version update. Thus, when all applications on the slaves are operated in an operating mode corresponding to the cellular network type, less traffic is consumed, and the traffic usage of all applications on the slaves is limited.

Optionally, on the basis of the above embodiment, the operation mode preset by the application program on the slave computer and corresponding to the cellular network type may also be that a user presets whether each application program on the slave computer performs data connection in the cellular network type, and in the current mobile phone, a control interface for managing the use of apps for flow is provided, and the user may set which apps can perform data connection in the cellular network type by himself.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of another flow control slave device according to an embodiment of the present invention; the flow control slave device may include: the receiving module 100, the limiting module 101, the downloading module 102, and the classifying module 103, where the receiving module 100 and the limiting module 101 are shown in fig. 11 and are not described herein again.

A downloading module 102, configured to download at least one application program, and record type information of each application program;

in an embodiment, the preset application program needs to be preset, and the specific setting manner may be that the slave download module 102 records type information of each application program when downloading each application program, where the type information may indicate a category of the application program, for example, the type information may be video, entertainment, and the like.

The classification module 103 is configured to divide the at least one application into at least one category according to the type information of each application, and determine all applications in a preset category as the preset application.

In one embodiment, the in-slave classification module 103 classifies all downloaded applications into at least one category according to the type information of each application, for example, the classification module 103 may classify applications containing video, entertainment, and the like in the type information into a first flow category with high flow consumption, and the classification module 103 classifies applications containing chat, text, and the like in the type information into a second flow category with low flow consumption.

Further, the classification module 103 determines all the applications in a preset category as the preset applications, for example, the preset category may be a first traffic class with a large consumption traffic.

Fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of another flow control slave device according to an embodiment of the present invention; the flow control slave device may include: the receiving module 100, the limiting module 101, the counting module 104, the first obtaining module 105, and the parsing module 106, wherein the receiving module 100 and the limiting module 101 are shown in fig. 11 and are not described herein again.

The counting module 104 is configured to count a flow rate used by each application program in all application programs on the slave machine in a unit time, and determine an application program in which the flow rate used in the unit time exceeds a preset threshold as the preset application program.

In an embodiment, the preset application program may be preset in such a manner that the slave statistical module 104 counts the flow rate used by each application program in all application programs on the slave in a unit time, and the setting of the unit time may be specified by a user, for example, may be two minutes. It should be noted that the statistical module 104 is used to count the traffic used when each application runs. And determining the application program with the flow rate exceeding the preset threshold value in the unit time as the preset application program.

A first obtaining module 105, configured to obtain the new information element from the beacon frame;

as an alternative, the notification message may exist in the form of a beacon frame, and the host may encapsulate the network type used by the host in a new information element in the beacon frame, where the new information element may be a newly defined information element or an information element in an existing standard. Therefore, for the slave side, the slave first obtaining module 105 needs to obtain the new-added information element containing the network type used by the master from the received beacon frame, and a specific obtaining manner may be to decapsulate the beacon frame.

And the analyzing module 106 is configured to analyze the network type used by the host from the new added information element by the slave.

As an optional implementation manner, the added information element includes a network type used by the host, so the slave parsing module 106 needs to parse the network type used by the host from the added information element, and may perform parsing according to a field occupied by the network type in the added information element.

Please refer to fig. 14, which is a schematic structural diagram of another flow control slave device according to an embodiment of the present invention; the flow control slave device may include:

a scanning module 111, configured to scan whether there are available other access points;

as an alternative, after the slave accesses the internet through the access point of the master, the slave scanning module 111 continues to scan whether there are other available access points. Usually, the slave machine will search the SSIDs of other access points as long as it is within the coverage of some other access point.

A selecting module 112, configured to select an alternative access point from other available access points if the other available access points exist, where a network type used by the alternative access point is a wireless local area network type;

as an alternative implementation, if there are other available access points, that is, the slave searches for SSIDs of other access points, the slave selection module 112 needs to select an alternative access point from the other access points, where the network type used by the alternative access point is a wireless local area network type.

The specific selection mode of the selection module 112 may be determined according to a notification message issued by another access point, where the notification message carries a network type used by the access point, and when the slave machine analyzes that the network type used by one access point is a wireless local area network type from the received notification message, the access point is determined as an alternative access point.

Optionally, the slave selection module 112 may analyze the network type used by a certain access point from the received notification message in a manner of determining whether the notification message carries a mobile device type identifier, and when the notification message does not carry the mobile device type identifier, may determine that the network type used by the master is the wireless local area network type.

A switching module 113, configured to switch from the access point of the host to the alternative access point, and access the internet through the alternative access point.

As an optional implementation manner, in order to save traffic usage of the master, when the slave searches for an alternative access point whose used network type is a wireless local area network type, the slave switching module 113 switches from the access point of the master to the alternative access point, and accesses the internet through the alternative access point.

Optionally, if the alternative access point includes at least two access points; the selection may be performed according to a priority order of each access point in the alternative access points, and therefore the apparatus may further include:

a comparing module 114, configured to compare priority orders of the access points in the alternative access points;

as an optional implementation manner, when the candidate access points include at least two access points, that is, when the slave machine searches for the wireless local area network types used by the at least two access points at the same time, the slave machine comparison module 114 needs to compare the priority order of each access point in the candidate access points. It should be noted that, the priority order of each access point in the candidate access points may also be automatically determined according to the signal strength of each access point, for example, the access point with the highest signal strength of the access point is automatically set as the highest priority, and the access point with the lowest signal strength of the access point is automatically set as the lowest priority.

The switching module 113 is specifically configured to switch the access point of the host to an access point with the highest priority among the alternative access points, and access the internet through the access point with the highest priority.

As an optional implementation manner, the slave switching module 113 switches from the access point of the master to the access point with the highest priority among the alternative access points, and accesses the internet through the access point with the highest priority, and this access point switching manner not only can save the traffic of the master, but also can select the most suitable access point to access the internet.

Optionally, a priority order needs to be set for each access point, so the apparatus may further include:

a setting module 115, configured to set a priority order of a plurality of access points, where the plurality of access points includes the alternative access point.

As an alternative embodiment, the slave may search SSIDs of multiple access points when searching for an access point, and in order to determine an access point that needs to be used, the setting module 115 needs to set a priority order of the multiple access points in the slave. The priority order may be in the form of high/medium/low or in the form of an arabic data rank, e.g., 1 being highest priority and 5 being lowest priority.

The setting module 115 is specifically configured to obtain a priority order of each access point in the plurality of access points set by the user; or,

the setting module 115 is specifically configured to count a usage duration of each access point in the plurality of access points used by the slave device in a preset time period, and determine a priority order of each access point in the plurality of access points according to the usage duration of each access point in the plurality of access points.

As an alternative, the user may manually set the priority order of each of the plurality of access points, for example, the priority of the access point as a home router may be set to a high priority. The slave setting module 115 acquires the priority order of each of the plurality of access points set by the user.

As an alternative implementation, the slave setting module 115 may set the priority order in an automatic learning mode, and track the behavior of the user using each access point for automatic setting, for example, count the usage duration of the slave using each of the multiple access points within a preset time period, and determine the priority order of each of the multiple access points according to the usage duration. The access point with the longest usage time may be set to a high priority.

Fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a flow control host device according to an embodiment of the present invention; the flow control host device may include: a first obtaining module 107 and a sending module 108.

A first obtaining module 107, configured to obtain a network type of a currently used network, where the network type includes a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type;

in an embodiment, the first host obtaining module 107 obtains a network type of a currently used network, and in an actual scenario, the host may use a cellular network to access the internet, where the cellular network may be GPRS, 3GPP, LTE, or the like; the host may also access the internet using a wireless local area network, such as Wi-Fi, etc.

It should be noted that before the first obtaining module 107 of the master obtains the network type of the network currently used, the data network needs to be opened, a mobile hotspot is created, the slave accesses the internet using the mobile hotspot created by the master as an access point, and sends a notification message carrying the network type of the network used by the master to the slave, and the slave uses the data traffic of the master. In addition, if the host creates the mobile hotspot first, establishes connection with the slave and then opens the data network, a notification message carrying the network type used by the host is sent to the slave after the data network is opened.

A sending module 108, configured to send a notification message to a slave device, where the notification message carries the network type, so that when the network type is the cellular network type, the slave device restricts use of network traffic by an application program on the slave device;

In an embodiment, after the master acquires the network type of the used network, the sending module 106 needs to send the notification message to the slave in the form of a notification message, where a specific sending method may be to convert the network type into information in a specific format, package the information, and send the information to the slave, so that when the network type of the network used by the slave at the master is the cellular network type, the slave controls the application program on the slave to perform an operation corresponding to the cellular network, thereby restricting the application program on the slave from using the traffic, and reducing the traffic of the master. Specifically, the process of encapsulating the network type by the host may be based on the extended 802.11 standard protocol or may be based on the proprietary vendor protocol.

Optionally, the encapsulation of the notification message is described based on the 802.11 extension standard Protocol, and the encapsulation of the notification message may include information encapsulation of each layer of a Protocol stack, as shown in fig. 1-a, which is described by taking a Protocol stack structure of a network communication Protocol (TCP/IP) as an example. The application layer of the host opens a data network, and after a mobile hotspot is created, the MAC layer encapsulates the network type information used by the host, for example, the network type information can be encapsulated into a Beacon frame, and then the Beacon frame is broadcast by the physical layer. The control host and the slave are connected with a communication module such as a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) module, a bluetooth module, and a USB module, and Radio Frequency (RF) circuits corresponding to the communication modules specifically implement a communication function, so that the slave and the host can perform Wireless Local Area Network communication, bluetooth communication, infrared communication, or USB communication. So that the slave can receive the Beacon frame broadcast by the master.

Specifically, in the 802.11 protocol, the network type may be encapsulated in an Information Element (IE), and then the IE is encapsulated, and the process of encapsulating the new Information element may be to encapsulate the new IE into a broadcast frame, and then send the broadcast frame to the slave, that is, send a notification message to the slave. There are three main types of frame structures in 802.11 frames: data frames, control frames, management frames. The fixed bits and information elements contained in the body of the management frame are used to carry information. There are many management frames respectively responsible for various maintenance functions of the link layer, such as Beacon (Beacon) frame, Probe Request (Probe Request), Probe Response (Probe Response), etc. Among them, the Beacon frame is a very important maintenance mechanism, and is mainly used to announce the existence of a certain network. In the basic network, the Beacon frame periodically sent by the host access point can make the slave know the existence of the network, thereby adjusting the parameters necessary for joining the network. Therefore, optionally, the newly added IE may be encapsulated into the Beacon frame.

The format of the Beacon frame comprises a MAC header field and a frame body. Where the frame body contains many options and alternatives (see in particular the IEEE 802.11 standard). The new IE of the invention belongs to one content in the Beacon frame body, and the position of the new IE in the frame format is not limited. An IE is typically a variable Length component of a management frame, typically containing an Element ID field, a Length field, and a field of unfixed Length.

The new IE involved in the present invention may use a newly defined information element, or may use an existing information element in the 802.11 standard. For example, the "Last" information element of the Beacon frame is "Vendor Specific", which is currently ranked at 56 th, and may be one or more, and the information elements used in the newly added IE may also be customized by the manufacturer. If the existing "Last" information Element is used, then each parameter in the information Element is set, for example, the Element ID may be set to 221, and the Organization Identifier is used to indicate the network operator, taking domestic as an example: china Mobile, China Unicom and China telecom, the Vendor-specific content can be used to enumerate the network types (such as 2G, 3G, 4G, WLAN; or GPRS, 3GPP, LTE, Wi-Fi, etc.; or any names related to network types such as UMTS, CDMA2000, WCDMA, etc.), and the IE total Length is between 3 bytes and 257 bytes.

It should be noted that the host may also first determine whether the network type is the cellular network type, and if the network type is the cellular network type, the Beacon frame includes the IE, and if the network type is the wireless local area network, the Beacon frame does not need to include the IE.

Optionally, the sending module 108 is specifically configured to send the notification message to the slave device at a second preset period.

Specifically, the slave generally operates in the power saving mode, and the slave may receive each notification message sent by the master, so the master sending module 108 sends the notification message to the slave in the second preset period. It should be noted that the second preset period may be the same as or different from the first preset period.

Fig. 16 is a schematic structural diagram of another flow control host device according to an embodiment of the present invention; the flow control host device may include: a first obtaining module 107, a sending module 108, a first encapsulating module 109 and a second encapsulating module 110. The first obtaining module 107 and the sending module 108 please refer to the description of fig. 12, which is not described herein again.

A first encapsulation module 109, configured to encapsulate the network type in a newly added information element, where the newly added information element is a newly defined information element or an information element in an existing standard;

as an optional implementation manner, if the first encapsulation module 109 encapsulates the notification message by using the extended 802.11 standard protocol, a specific process may be to encapsulate the network type in a new information element, where the new information element is a content in a frame body belonging to a frame format, and it should be noted that a specific position of the new information element in the frame body is not limited.

The new information Element in this embodiment may be a variable Length component of the management frame, and generally includes an Element ID field, a Length field, and a field with a non-fixed Length. Specifically, the new information element may be a newly defined information element, or may use an existing information element in the 802.11 standard. For example, the "Last" information element of the Beacon frame is "Vendor Specific", which is currently ranked at 56 th, and may be one or more.

The second encapsulating module 110 is configured to encapsulate the new information element in a beacon frame, and determine the beacon frame as the notification message.

As an optional implementation manner, after the first encapsulating module 109 encapsulates the new information element, the second encapsulating module 110 encapsulates the new information element in a Beacon frame, where the Beacon frame is a quite important maintenance mechanism and is mainly used to announce the existence of a certain network. In the basic network, the Beacon frame periodically sent by the host access point can make the slave know the existence of the network, thereby adjusting the parameters necessary for joining the network. Therefore, optionally, the newly added IE may be encapsulated in the Beacon frame, and the Beacon frame may be determined as the notification message.

Fig. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of another flow control slave device according to an embodiment of the present invention; the flow control slave device may include: a receiver 200 and a processor 201.

Optionally, the encapsulation of the notification message may be implemented by extending an 802.11 standard protocol, or may be implemented by extending a proprietary protocol of a device vendor. The description is made here by taking an implementation by extending the 802.11 standard protocol as an example. The host adds an information element to a Beacon (Beacon) frame, where the information element includes a network type used by the host, and the network type mainly includes a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type, and it should be noted that the cellular network type mainly includes 2G, 3G, 4G, or General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), 3GPP, Long Term Evolution (LTE), or a Mobile communication System (UMTS), CDMA2000, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), and so on. The wireless local area network type mainly comprises WLAN or Wi-Fi and the like. The master sends the notification message, namely the broadcast Beacon frame, and the slave receives the notification message sent by the master.

Specifically, as illustrated in the structure diagram of fig. 1-a, the slave receives a Beacon frame through a communication channel connected to the host, a functional module in the slave controlling connection to the host may be a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) module, a bluetooth module, a USB module, or another communication module, and a Radio Frequency (RF) circuit corresponding to the communication module specifically implements a communication function, so that Wireless Local Area Network communication, bluetooth communication, infrared communication, or USB communication may be performed between the slave and the host. And after receiving the Beacon frame which is sent by the host and carries the network type used by the host, the physical layer of the slave gives the Beacon frame to a Media Access Control (MAC) layer to analyze the Beacon frame, and after the network type used by the host is analyzed, the MAC layer stores the network type used by the host. Meanwhile, the slave computer and the host computer are associated by authentication, and after the authentication is passed, the connection with the host computer is established. After the slave and the host establish connection, the MAC layer informs the operating system of the application layer of the network type used by the host. Besides the signal strength, security, and whether to encrypt, the WLAN interface of the slave also displays the network type (e.g. 3G) used by the master. Optionally, the network type used by the master may not be displayed, but the network type used by the master may be stored, and is used to inform the operating system of the slave after the connection is established.

Optionally, when the network type used by the host is a cellular network type, it indicates that the traffic of the host is limited and cannot be used indefinitely. Although the slave is a wireless local area network type, it is actually necessary to control the use of traffic by an application on the slave, because the slave accesses the internet using the master as an access point, the used traffic is the traffic of the master, and the traffic of the master is limited, so that it is necessary to control the use of traffic by the slave. For all the application programs in the slave machines, different operations corresponding to different network types are set in the development stage of the application programs, for example, if the application programs are in a wireless local area network type, the application programs can automatically update versions, if the application programs are in a cellular network type, the application programs cannot automatically update versions, and when a user downloads updates, the user also prompts the used flow and prompts whether to continue. Therefore, when the slave machine knows that the network type used by the master machine is the cellular network type, the slave machine controls the application program on the slave machine to perform operation corresponding to the cellular network type, so that the application program on the slave machine is limited to use the flow.

Specifically, when the operating system of the slave learns that the network type used by the master is the cellular network type, the application program on the slave is limited from using the network traffic, and the specific limiting method may be automatic control by the control system, that is, the control system maintains the application program type with high traffic consumption, such as video software (downloading video), an application store (updating application program), and the like. The control system automatically closes the internet access authority of the application programs. If the user manually clicks the download, the user is prompted as to how much traffic will be consumed, and is asked whether to continue. The specific limiting method may also be that the operating system informs the application program that the network type used by the host is the cellular network type, and the application program runs in a running mode set under the cellular network type. The existing application programs are set to operate differently under the cellular network and the wireless local area network, and the current network state is the cellular network type, so that the application programs of the slaves operate corresponding to the state of the cellular network, and the flow use of the application programs on the slaves is limited.

The processor is further configured to close a data connection of a preset application program with high consumption flow in the slave on-board application program if the network type used by the master device is the cellular network type, so as to close the internet access permission of the preset application program and reduce the use of the network flow by the slave on-board application program; or,

the processor is further configured to notify all applications on the slave device if the network type used by the master device is the cellular network type, where the notification content includes that the network type used by the master device is the cellular network type, so that all applications on the slave device operate according to a preset operation mode corresponding to the cellular network type, thereby limiting the application on the slave device from using the network traffic.

Optionally, if the network type used by the master is a cellular network type, the slave closes a preset application program with a large consumption flow rate, where the preset application program is generally an application program with a consumption flow rate exceeding a preset threshold, and when the network type is the cellular network type, the flow rate is limited, so that the preset application programs may be closed. The operating system closes the internet access authority of the application programs, and if the user manually clicks to download, a dialog box is popped up to prompt how much traffic is consumed and inquire whether the user continues.

Optionally, after the preset application program is closed, the operating system controls another application program on the slave to perform an operation corresponding to the type of the cellular network, and the another application program on the slave may be an application program of all application programs on the slave except the preset application program. Specifically, the operation mode of the other application program is the operation mode in the cellular network type preset by the developer.

Optionally, the control mode for the application program on the slave machine to perform the operation corresponding to the cellular network type may also be that an operating system of the slave machine notifies all application programs on the slave machine, where the notification content includes that the network type used by the master machine is the cellular network type, so as to prompt that all application programs on the slave machine need to operate according to a preset operation mode corresponding to the cellular network type, and an operation mode under different network types is preset for each application program, for example, under a wireless local area network type, the application program does not limit a used flow, the application program may automatically perform version update, and under the cellular network type, the application program may not automatically perform version update. Thus, when all applications on the slaves are operated in an operating mode corresponding to the cellular network type, less traffic is consumed, and the traffic usage of all applications on the slaves is limited.

The processor is also used for downloading at least one application program and recording the type information of each application program;

Optionally, the preset application program needs to be preset, and the specific setting manner may be that the slave records type information of each application program when downloading each application program, where the type information may indicate a type of the application program, and for example, the type information may be video, entertainment, and the like.

Optionally, the slave machine divides all downloaded application programs into at least one category according to the type information of each application program, for example, the application programs containing information such as video and entertainment in the type information may be classified into a first flow rate category with high flow consumption, and the application programs containing information such as chat and text in the type information may be classified into a second flow rate category with low flow consumption.

The processor is further configured to count a flow rate used by each application program in all application programs on the slave machine in a unit time, and determine an application program in which the flow rate used in the unit time exceeds a preset threshold as the preset application program.

Optionally, the preset application program may be preset in such a manner that the slave computer counts the flow used by each application program in all application programs on the slave computer in unit time, and the setting of the unit time may be specified by a user, for example, may be two minutes. It should be noted that the statistics are the traffic used by each application program in operation. And determining the application program with the flow rate exceeding the preset threshold value in the unit time as the preset application program.

The notification message is a beacon frame, and the network type used by the host is encapsulated in a newly added information element of the beacon frame, wherein the newly added information element is a newly defined information element or an information element in the existing standard;

Optionally, the notification message may exist in a beacon frame manner, and the host may encapsulate a network type used by the host in a new information element in the beacon frame, where the new information element may be a newly defined information element or an information element in an existing standard. Therefore, for the slave side, the slave side needs to acquire the new information element containing the network type used by the master from the received beacon frame, and a specific manner of acquiring the new information element may be to decapsulate the beacon frame.

Optionally, the newly added information element includes a network type used by the host, so that the slave needs to analyze the network type used by the host from the newly added information element, and may perform analysis according to a field occupied by the network type in the newly added information element.

The receiver is further configured to receive a notification message sent by the host at a first preset period.

Optionally, the notification message including the network type sent by the master to the slave may be sent periodically, and the slave generally also operates in the power saving mode, and the slave may receive the notification message sent by the master in the first preset period when each notification message sent by the master is not received.

The receiver is further configured to scan for the presence of other access points that are available;

Optionally, after the slave accesses the internet through the access point of the master, the slave continues to scan whether there are other available access points. Usually, the slave machine will search the SSIDs of other access points as long as it is within the coverage of some other access point.

Optionally, if there are available other access points, that is, the slave device searches for SSIDs of other access points, the slave device needs to select an alternative access point from the other access points, where the network type used by the alternative access point is a wireless local area network type.

The specific selection mode may be determined according to notification messages issued by other access points, where the notification messages may carry the network type used by the access point, and when the slave machine analyzes that the network type used by one access point is the wireless local area network type from the received notification messages, the access point is determined as the alternative access point.

Optionally, in order to save traffic of the master, when the slave searches for an alternative access point of which the used network type is the wireless local area network type, the slave is switched from the access point of the master to the alternative access point, and accesses the internet through the alternative access point.

If the alternative access points comprise at least two access points;

Optionally, when the candidate access point includes at least two access points, that is, when the slave machine searches for the wireless local area network types used by the at least two access points at the same time, the slave machine needs to compare the priority order of each access point in the candidate access points. It should be noted that, the priority order of each access point in the candidate access points may also be automatically determined according to the signal strength of each access point, for example, the access point with the highest signal strength of the access point is automatically set as the highest priority, and the access point with the lowest signal strength of the access point is automatically set as the lowest priority.

Optionally, the slave computer is switched from the access point of the master computer to the access point with the highest priority in the alternative access points, and accesses the internet through the access point with the highest priority.

The processor is further configured to set a priority order for a plurality of access points, the plurality of access points including the alternative access point.

Optionally, the slave may search SSIDs of multiple access points when searching for an access point, and in order to determine an access point that needs to be used, the slave needs to set a priority order of the multiple access points. The priority order may be in the form of high/medium/low, or may be an arabic data rank, e.g., 1 being highest priority and 5 being lowest priority.

The process of setting the priority order of the plurality of access points includes:

acquiring a priority order of each access point in the plurality of access points set by a user; or,

and counting the use time of the slave machine using each access point in the plurality of access points in a preset time period, and determining the priority order of each access point in the plurality of access points according to the use time of each access point in the plurality of access points.

Alternatively, the user may manually set the priority order of each of the plurality of access points, for example, the priority of the access point as a home router may be set as a high priority. The slave machine acquires the priority order of each access point in the plurality of access points set by the user.

Optionally, the slave device may set the priority order in an automatic learning mode, and track the behavior of each access point used by the user to perform automatic setting, for example, count the use duration of each access point used by the slave device in a preset time period, and determine the priority order of each access point in the plurality of access points according to the use duration. The access point with the longest duration of use may be set to a high priority.

Fig. 18 is a schematic structural diagram of another flow control host device according to an embodiment of the present invention; the flow control host device may include: a processor 202 and a transmitter 203.

the transmitter is configured to send a notification message to a slave device, where the notification message carries the network type, so that when the network type is the cellular network type, the slave device restricts use of network traffic by an application on the slave device;

wherein the slave device accesses the internet with the master device as an access point.

Optionally, the host obtains a network type of a currently used network, and in an actual scenario, the host may use a cellular network to access the internet, where the cellular network may be GPRS, 3GPP, LTE, or the like; the host may also access the internet using a wireless local area network, such as Wi-Fi or the like.

Optionally, after the network type of the used network is acquired by the master, the network type needs to be sent to the slave in the form of a notification message, and a specific sending manner may be to convert the network type into information in a specific format, package the information, and send the information to the slave, so that when the network type of the network used by the slave at the master is the cellular network type, the slave controls an application program on the slave to perform an operation corresponding to the cellular network, thereby limiting the application program on the slave to use the traffic, and reducing the use of the master traffic. Specifically, the process of encapsulating the network type by the host may be based on the extended 802.11 standard protocol or may be based on the proprietary vendor protocol.

Optionally, the encapsulation of the notification message is described based on the extended 802.11 standard Protocol, and the encapsulation of the notification message may include information encapsulation of each layer of a Protocol stack, as shown in fig. 1-a, which is described by taking a Protocol stack structure of a network communication Protocol (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, TCP/IP) as an example. The application layer of the host opens a data network, and after a mobile hotspot is created, the MAC layer encapsulates the network type information used by the host, for example, the network type information can be encapsulated into a Beacon frame, and then the Beacon frame is broadcast by the physical layer. The control host and the slave are connected with a communication module such as a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) module, a bluetooth module, and a USB module, and Radio Frequency (RF) circuits corresponding to the communication modules specifically implement a communication function, so that the slave and the host can perform Wireless Local Area Network communication, bluetooth communication, infrared communication, or USB communication. So that the slave can receive the Beacon frame broadcast by the master.

Specifically, in the 802.11 protocol, the network type may be encapsulated in an Information Element (IE) and then the new Information element, and the process of encapsulating the new Information element may be to encapsulate the new IE into a broadcast frame, and then send the broadcast frame to the slave, that is, send a notification message to the slave. There are three main types of frame structures in 802.11 frames: data frames, control frames, management frames. The body of the management frame contains fixed bits and information elements for carrying information. There are many management frames respectively responsible for various maintenance functions of the link layer, such as Beacon (Beacon) frame, Probe Request (Probe Request), Probe Response (Probe Response), etc. Among them, the Beacon frame is a very important maintenance mechanism, mainly used to announce the existence of a certain network. In the basic network, the Beacon frame periodically sent by the host access point can make the slave know the existence of the network, thereby adjusting the parameters necessary for joining the network. Therefore, optionally, the newly added IE may be encapsulated into the Beacon frame.

The processor is further configured to encapsulate the network type in a newly added information element, where the newly added information element is a newly defined information element or an information element in an existing standard;

the processor is further configured to encapsulate the new added information element in a beacon frame, and determine the beacon frame as the notification message.

Optionally, if the encapsulation of the notification message is performed by using the extended 802.11 standard protocol, the specific process may be to encapsulate the network type in a new information element, where the new information element is a content in a frame body belonging to a frame format, and it should be noted that a specific position of the new information element in the frame body is not limited.

Optionally, after encapsulating the new information element, encapsulating the new information element in a Beacon frame, where the Beacon frame is a quite important maintenance mechanism and is mainly used to announce the existence of a certain network. In the basic network, the Beacon frame periodically sent by the host access point can make the slave know the existence of the network, thereby adjusting the parameters necessary for joining the network. Therefore, optionally, the newly added IE may be encapsulated in the Beacon frame, and the Beacon frame may be determined as the notification message.

The transmitter is further configured to send a notification message to the slave at a second preset period.

Optionally, the slave generally operates in the power saving mode, and the slave may receive each notification message sent by the master, so that the master sends the notification message to the slave in the second preset period. It should be noted that the second preset period may be the same as or different from the first preset period.

Referring to fig. 19, a flow rate diagram of another flow rate control method according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the flow rate control method according to the embodiment includes steps S190 to S191:

s190, a slave receives a notification message sent by a master, wherein the notification message is used for indicating the network type used by the master to the slave;

in one embodiment, the slave accesses the internet by using the master as an access point, the master may send the notification message in a broadcast manner, or the slave sends a request message for requesting to inform the master of the network type used by the master in order to acquire the network type used by the master, and the master sends the notification message in response to the request message. The notification message sent by the master is used to indicate to the slaves the type of network used by the master. The encapsulation of the notification message may be implemented by extending 802.11 standard protocols, or by extending other network protocols, and is not limited herein.

The indication mode that the notification message indicates the network type used by the master to the slave may be that the network type used by the master is directly encapsulated into the notification message, and the slave receives the notification message and then can obtain the network type used by the master from the notification message. In addition, the indication manner of indicating the network type used by the master to the slave by the notification message may be that the notification message is encapsulated by using an identifier capable of indicating the network type used by the master, and after the slave receives the notification message, the network type may be analyzed by the identifier, where the identifier may be an equipment type identifier of the master, or may be a preset identifier capable of indicating the network type, and a specific existence form of the identifier is not limited. The network type may include a wireless local area network type, a cellular network type, a hotspot network type, and the like, and the specific existence form of the network type is not limited.

Optionally, the notification message includes a device type identifier of the host;

step S190 may be followed by step S19 of:

and S19, the slave machine obtains the network type used by the host machine according to the equipment type identification of the host machine.

In one embodiment, when the identifier is a device type identifier of the host, that is, the notification message includes the device type identifier of the host. The slave can obtain the network type used by the host according to the equipment type identification of the host.

For example, when the host is a mobile device, the device type identifier may indicate that the host is the mobile device Android, for example, from the anroid version 4.1, google has a device type identifier of "Android _ met" added in the united. The network type used by the host can be judged to be the cellular network type through the device type identification. The specific determination mode may be that when the master is a mobile terminal, the master sends its own mobile device type identifier, when the slave parses out that the notification message carries the mobile device type identifier, the slave may determine that the network type used by the master is a cellular network type, and when the notification message does not carry the mobile device type identifier, the slave may determine that the network type used by the master is a wireless local area network type.

S191, the slave machine controls the use of network traffic by the slave machine based on the network type used by the master machine;

In one embodiment, the slave controls the slave to use the network traffic based on the network type used by the master, and specifically, when the network type used by the master is a network type that needs to consume traffic, such as a cellular network type, the slave controls the use of the network traffic. The control mode may be to close a data connection of a preset application program consuming a large amount of traffic, such as a video application program, from the on-board application program. Or it may be that all the applications on the slave are notified to operate according to the cellular network type operation mode, for example, no application update operation is performed, and the like.

Optionally, the network type includes a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type.

Therefore, the slave controlling the use of network traffic by the slave based on the network type used by the master includes:

if the network type used by the master is the cellular network type, the slave changes the identification parameter used for representing the network type used by the master into the identification parameter used for representing the cellular network type, so that the application program on the slave acquires the identification parameter and operates according to a preset operation mode corresponding to the cellular network type based on the identification parameter, and the application program on the slave is controlled to use the network traffic.

In an embodiment, the slave machine controls the slave machine to use the network traffic based on the network type used by the master machine, specifically, if the network type includes a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type, when the network type used by the master machine is the cellular network type, the slave machine changes an identification parameter for indicating the network type used by the master machine into an identification parameter for indicating the cellular network type, the application program on the slave machine acquires the identification parameter, and when the application program on the slave machine detects that the identification parameter is changed into the identification parameter for indicating the cellular network type, the application program on the slave machine controls the network traffic to be used by the application program on the slave machine. The specific control mode may be to close the application program with a large consumption traffic, or to control the application program to run according to a running mode corresponding to the cellular network type, for example, no application update is performed, and the like. The specific control method is not limited, and is intended to reduce the use of network traffic by the slave.

Referring to fig. 20, a flow control slave device according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the flow control slave device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes:

a receiving module 300, configured to receive a notification message sent by a master, where the notification message is used to indicate, to the slave, a network type used by the master;

The indication manner for indicating the network type used by the master to the slave by the notification message may be that the network type used by the master is directly encapsulated into the notification message, and the slave receiving module 300 may obtain the network type used by the master from the notification message after receiving the notification message. In addition, the indication manner of indicating the network type used by the master to the slave by the notification message may be that the notification message is encapsulated by using an identifier capable of indicating the network type used by the master, and after the slave receiving module 300 receives the notification message, the network type may be analyzed by the identifier, where the identifier may be an equipment type identifier of the master, or may be a preset identifier capable of indicating the network type, and a specific existence form of the identifier is not limited. The network type may include a wireless local area network type, a cellular network type, a hotspot network type, and the like, and the specific existence form of the network type is not limited.

Optionally, the notification message includes a device type identifier of the master, and the flow control slave apparatus further includes:

an obtaining module 301, configured to obtain, according to the device type identifier of the host, a network type used by the host.

In one embodiment, when the identifier is a device type identifier of the host, that is, the notification message includes the device type identifier of the host. The slave acquisition module 301 may acquire the network type used by the master according to the device type identifier of the master.

For example, when the host is a mobile device, the device type identifier may be a device type identifier indicating that the host is the mobile device Android, for example, from anid version 4.1, google has added "Android _ measured" in common. The obtaining module 301 may determine, through the device type identifier, that the network type used by the host is a cellular network type. The specific determination manner of the obtaining module 301 may be that when the master is a mobile terminal, the master sends its own mobile device type identifier, when the slave parses out that the notification message carries the mobile device type identifier, the slave may determine that the network type used by the master is a cellular network type, and when the notification message does not carry the mobile device type identifier, the slave may determine that the network type used by the master is a wireless local area network type.

A control module 302, configured to control usage of network traffic by the slave based on a network type used by the master;

In one embodiment, slave control module 302 controls the use of network traffic by the slave based on the type of network used by the master, and specifically, when the type of network used by the master is a network type that requires traffic consumption, such as a cellular network type, slave control module 302 controls the use of network traffic. The control mode may be to close a data connection of a preset application program that consumes a large amount of traffic in the application programs on the slave machine, for example, a video application program. Or it may be that all the applications on the slave are notified to operate according to the cellular network type operation mode, for example, no application update operation is performed, and the like.

Optionally, the network type includes a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type;

the control module 302 is specifically configured to, if the network type used by the master is the cellular network type, change the identification parameter used for indicating the network type used by the master to an identification parameter used for indicating the cellular network type, so that the application program on the slave acquires the identification parameter and operates according to a preset operation mode corresponding to the cellular network type based on the identification parameter, thereby controlling the application program on the slave to use the network traffic.

In one embodiment, the slave machine controls the slave machine to use the network traffic based on the network type used by the master machine, specifically, if the network type includes a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type, when the network type used by the master machine is the cellular network type, the slave machine changes an identification parameter for indicating the network type used by the master machine into an identification parameter for indicating the cellular network type, the application program on the slave machine acquires the identification parameter, and when the application program on the slave machine detects that the identification parameter is changed into the identification parameter for indicating the cellular network type, the application program on the slave machine controls the slave machine to use the network traffic. The specific control mode may be to close the application program with a large consumption traffic, or to control the application program to run according to a running mode corresponding to the cellular network type, for example, no application update is performed, and the like. The specific control method is not limited, and is intended to reduce the use of network traffic by the slave.

Referring to fig. 21, another flow control slave device provided in the embodiment of the present invention is shown, where the flow control slave device in the embodiment of the present invention may include a receiver 400 and a processor 401:

Optionally, the slave accesses the internet by using the host as an access point, the host may send the notification message in a broadcast manner, or the slave sends a request message for requesting to inform the host of using the network type in order to acquire the network type used by the host, and the host sends the notification message in response to the request message. The notification message sent by the master is used to indicate to the slaves the type of network used by the master. The encapsulation of the notification message may be implemented by extending 802.11 standard protocols, or may be implemented by extending other network protocols, which is not limited herein.

The indication mode of indicating the network type used by the master to the slave by the notification message may be that the network type used by the master is directly encapsulated into the notification message, and the slave receives the notification message and then can obtain the network type used by the master from the notification message. In addition, the indication manner of indicating the network type used by the master to the slave by the notification message may be that the notification message is encapsulated by using an identifier capable of indicating the network type used by the master, and after the slave receives the notification message, the network type may be analyzed by the identifier, where the identifier may be an equipment type identifier of the master, or may be a preset identifier capable of indicating the network type, and a specific existence form of the identifier is not limited. The network type may include a wireless local area network type, a cellular network type, a hotspot network type, and the like, and the specific existence form of the network type is not limited.

Optionally, the slave machine controls the slave machine to use the network traffic based on the network type used by the master machine, and specifically, when the network type used by the master machine is a network type that needs to consume traffic, for example, a cellular network type, the slave machine controls the slave machine to use the network traffic. The control mode may be to close a data connection of a preset application program consuming a large amount of traffic, such as a video application program, from the on-board application program. Or it may be that all the applications on the slave are notified to run according to the cellular network type running mode, for example, no application update operation is performed, etc.

The notification message comprises a device type identifier of the host;

Optionally, when the identifier is a device type identifier of the host, that is, the notification message includes the device type identifier of the host. The slave can obtain the network type used by the host according to the equipment type identification of the host.

For example, when the host is a mobile device, the device type identifier may be a device type identifier indicating that the host is the mobile device Android, for example, from anid version 4.1, google has added "Android _ measured" in common. The network type used by the host can be judged to be the cellular network type through the device type identification. The specific determination mode may be that when the master is a mobile terminal, the master sends its own mobile device type identifier, when the slave parses out that the notification message carries the mobile device type identifier, the slave may determine that the network type used by the master is a cellular network type, and when the notification message does not carry the mobile device type identifier, the slave may determine that the network type used by the master is a wireless local area network type.

The network type includes a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type.

The controlling the slave to use the network traffic based on the network type used by the master includes:

if the network type used by the master computer is the cellular network type, changing the identification parameter used for representing the network type used by the master computer into the identification parameter used for representing the cellular network type, so that the application program on the slave computer obtains the identification parameter and operates according to a preset operation mode corresponding to the cellular network type on the basis of the identification parameter, and therefore the application program on the slave computer is controlled to use the network flow.

Optionally, the slave machine controls the slave machine to use the network traffic based on the network type used by the master machine, specifically, if the network type includes a cellular network type or a wireless local area network type, when the network type used by the master machine is the cellular network type, the slave machine changes an identification parameter used for indicating the network type used by the master machine into an identification parameter used for indicating the cellular network type, the application program on the slave machine acquires the identification parameter, and when the application program on the slave machine detects that the identification parameter is changed into the identification parameter used for indicating the cellular network type, the application program on the slave machine controls the application program on the slave machine to use the network traffic. The specific control mode may be to close the application program with high consumption traffic, or to control the application program to run according to the running mode corresponding to the cellular network type, for example, not to perform application update. The specific control method is not limited, and is intended to reduce the use of network traffic by the slave.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that all or part of the processes of the methods of the embodiments described above can be implemented by a computer program, which can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and when executed, can include the processes of the embodiments of the methods described above. The storage medium may be a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), or the like.

The above disclosure is only for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and it is therefore to be understood that the invention is not limited by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method of flow control, the method comprising:

the slave computer opens a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) and searches for a network;

the slave machine receives a broadcast frame sent by a host machine, wherein the broadcast frame carries a network type used by the host machine;

the slave computer analyzes the broadcast frame and determines the network type used by the host computer, wherein if the broadcast frame carries a mobile device type identifier, the host computer is indicated to be a mobile device, and the network type used by the host computer is determined to be a cellular network type; if the broadcast frame does not carry the mobile equipment type identifier, determining that the network type used by the host is a wireless local area network type;

the slave computer displays a Service Set Identifier (SSID) of a wireless network provided by the host computer and a network type used by the host computer on a WLAN interface;

the slave machine receives the selection of the SSID from the user and establishes connection with the host machine;

after the slave machine establishes network connection with the host machine, the slave machine accesses the Internet by taking the host machine as an access point; when the network type used by the host computer is a cellular network type, the slave computer detects that the user wants to download the video in the video software, and then the slave computer limits the downloading or prompts how much flow the user consumes to inquire whether the user continues to download or not; when the network type used by the host is a wireless local area network type, the use of the flow in the video software is not limited.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein when the network type is a cellular network type, the method further comprises:

the slave machine limits the data connection of a preset application program on the slave machine; or,

the slave computer informs the application program on the slave computer, wherein the informing content comprises that the network type used by the master computer is the cellular network type, so that all the application programs on the slave computer operate according to a preset operation mode corresponding to the cellular network type.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the predetermined application includes an application that uses a flow rate exceeding a predetermined threshold per unit time.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile device type identifier indicates that the host is a mobile Android device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the broadcast frame is a beacon frame, and the network type used by the host is encapsulated in an added information element of the beacon frame, the added information element being a newly defined information element or an information element in an existing standard.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the slave receiving the broadcast frame transmitted by the master comprises:

and the slave machine receives the broadcast frame sent by the host machine in a first preset period.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein after the slave device establishes a connection with the master device, if the network type used by the master device is the cellular network type, the method further comprises:

the slave scans for the presence of other access points that are available;

8. The method of claim 7, wherein if the alternative access points comprise at least two access points;

before the slave is switched from the access point of the master to the alternative access point and accesses the internet by using the alternative access point, the method further comprises the following steps:

9. The method of claim 8, wherein before the slave receives the broadcast frame transmitted by the master, the method further comprises:

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the slave sets a priority order for the plurality of access points, comprising:

11. The method of claim 1, wherein after the slave device establishes a connection with the master device, if the network type is a cellular network type, the method further comprises: the slave computer limits downloading or updating of the application program; or the slave computer prompts the user how much flow the corresponding operation will consume, and inquires whether the user continues; or via a control interface which applications can make data connections in the cellular network type.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein after the slave device establishes a connection with the master device, if the network type is a cellular network type, the method further comprises: and setting a flow threshold of a preset application program, and closing the data connection when the flow consumed by the preset application program exceeds the flow threshold.

13. A flow control slave device, comprising:

the receiving module is used for receiving a notification message sent by the host after the slave opens the WLAN and searches the network, wherein the notification message carries the network type used by the host;

the control module is used for analyzing the notification message and determining the network type used by the host, wherein if the notification message carries a mobile device type identifier, the host is indicated to be a mobile device, and the network type used by the host is determined to be a cellular network type;

displaying a Service Set Identifier (SSID) of a wireless network provided by the host and a network type used by the host on a WLAN interface;

receiving the selection of the SSID from the user, and establishing connection with the host;

after the network connection is established between the slave computer and the host computer, the slave computer device accesses the internet by taking the host computer as an access point, and when the network type used by the host computer is a cellular network type, if the fact that a user wants to download a video in video software is detected, the downloading is limited or the user is prompted whether to continue downloading.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein when the network type is a cellular network type, the slave control module is further to:

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the mobile device type identifier indicates that the host is a mobile Android device.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the control module is further configured to change an identification parameter for indicating a type of a network used by the master to an identification parameter for indicating a type of a cellular network if the type of the network used by the master is the type of the cellular network, so that the application on the slave acquires the identification parameter and operates according to a preset operation mode corresponding to the type of the cellular network based on the identification parameter, thereby controlling the application on the slave to use network traffic.

17. The apparatus according to any one of claims 13 to 16, wherein after the slave device establishes a connection with the master device, if the network type used by the master device is the cellular network type, the slave device control module is further configured to:

scanning for the presence of other access points that are available;

if other available access points exist, selecting an alternative access point from the other access points, wherein the network type used by the alternative access point is a wireless local area network type;

and switching to the alternative access point by the access point of the host, and accessing the Internet through the alternative access point.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein if the alternative access points comprise at least two access points;

before the access point of the host switches to the alternative access point and accesses the internet through the alternative access point, the method further includes:

comparing the priority order of each access point in the alternative access points;

switching to the alternative access point by the access point of the host, and accessing the internet through the alternative access point, including:

and switching to the access point with the highest priority from the access point of the host to the access point with the highest priority from the alternative access points, and accessing to the Internet through the access point with the highest priority.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein before the receiving module receives the notification message sent by the host, the receiving module further comprises:

the slave device sets a priority order for a plurality of access points, the plurality of access points including the alternative access point.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the slave device sets a priority order for a plurality of access points, comprising:

and counting the use duration of each access point in the plurality of access points used by the slave in a preset time period, and determining the priority order of each access point in the plurality of access points according to the use duration of each access point in the plurality of access points.

21. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein after the slave device establishes the connection with the master device, if the network type is a cellular network type, the control module is further configured to: the slave machine limits downloading or updating of the application program; or the slave computer prompts the user how much flow the corresponding operation will consume, and inquires whether the user continues; or via a control interface which applications can make data connections in the cellular network type.

22. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein after the slave device establishes the connection with the master device, if the network type is a cellular network type, the control module is further configured to: and setting a flow threshold of a preset application program, and closing the data connection when the flow consumed by the preset application program exceeds the flow threshold.

23. A flow control slave device comprising a receiver, a processor and a memory; the receiver is used for receiving messages sent by other equipment;

the processor is configured to read the software code stored in the memory to cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-12.