CN112689277B

CN112689277B - Method, device and system for configuring network for equipment

Info

Publication number: CN112689277B
Application number: CN201910989147.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 罗继列
Original assignee: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd
Current assignee: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd
Priority date: 2019-10-17
Filing date: 2019-10-17
Publication date: 2023-05-05
Anticipated expiration: 2039-10-17
Also published as: CN112689277A

Abstract

The invention discloses a method, a device and a system for configuring a network for equipment. The method for configuring the network comprises the following steps: acquiring signal strength of a radio frame from surrounding equipment; when the acquired signal strength is higher than a threshold value, determining that the equipment corresponding to the signal strength is target equipment; sending a network allocation request to the target equipment so that the target equipment can send network allocation information to the equipment to be allocated when authentication passes; and carrying out distribution network according to the distribution network information. The invention also discloses corresponding computing equipment.

Description

Method, device and system for configuring network for equipment

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of intelligent devices, and in particular, to a method, an apparatus, and a system for configuring a network for a device.

Background

With the continuous development of smart home devices and internet technology, more and more users use various smart devices. When the intelligent device is used for the first time, the intelligent device needs to be firstly allocated with a network so that the intelligent device can be accessed to a wireless local area network used by a user.

In the prior art, a smart device generally establishes a connection with a router by WiFi, and then performs data interaction with a cloud server through a mobile terminal (e.g., a mobile phone). For example, a user may control a smart television through a client application installed on a cell phone.

However, for some other intelligent devices, such as an intelligent socket, an intelligent lamp, and an intelligent air purifier, the intelligent device does not have a man-machine interface, and cannot receive the input of the user, so that the operations of searching, selecting, and the like cannot be automatically completed, and the AP (wireless access point ) is selected and the connection password is input.

Thus, a new solution for configuring a network for a smart device is needed.

Disclosure of Invention

To this end, the present invention provides a method, apparatus and system for configuring a network for devices in an attempt to solve or at least alleviate at least one of the problems presented above.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of configuring a network for a device, comprising the steps of: acquiring signal strength of a radio frame from surrounding equipment; when the acquired signal strength is higher than a threshold value, determining that the equipment corresponding to the signal strength is target equipment; sending a network allocation request to the target equipment so that the target equipment can send network allocation information to the equipment to be allocated when authentication passes; and carrying out distribution network according to the distribution network information.

Optionally, the method according to the invention further comprises the step of: determining a device transmitting the radio frame based on the received radio frame; associating the device with the signal strength.

Optionally, the method according to the invention further comprises the step of: and changing the position of the equipment to be distributed to change the acquired signal strength.

Optionally, the method according to the invention further comprises the step of: the location of surrounding devices is changed to change the acquired signal strength.

Optionally, in the method according to the present invention, when the acquired signal strength is higher than the threshold value, the step of determining that the device corresponding to the signal strength is the target device includes: monitoring the acquired signal strength; judging whether the acquired signal strength is higher than a threshold value; and when the confirmed signal strength is higher than the threshold value, selecting the device associated with the signal strength as the target device.

Optionally, in the method according to the present invention, the distribution network information is encrypted information, and the step of performing distribution network according to the distribution network information includes: decrypting the distribution network information to obtain the name of the target network and the password of the target network; and connecting the target network according to the name of the target network and the password of the target network.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a method of configuring a network for a device, comprising the steps of: acquiring signal strength of a radio frame from surrounding equipment; after the acquired signal strength is a first preset value, determining the change trend of the signal strength; when the change trend of the signal intensity is increasing, determining the equipment corresponding to the signal intensity as target equipment; sending a network allocation request to the target equipment so that the target equipment can send network allocation information to the equipment to be allocated when authentication passes; and carrying out distribution network according to the distribution network information.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided an apparatus for configuring a network, including: an information acquisition unit adapted to acquire signal strength of a radio frame from a surrounding apparatus; the device confirming unit is suitable for determining the device corresponding to the signal strength as the target device when the acquired signal strength is higher than a threshold value; the information sending unit is suitable for sending a network distribution request to the target equipment so as to facilitate the target equipment to send network distribution information to the equipment to be distributed when the authentication passes; the network connection unit is suitable for carrying out distribution network according to the distribution network information.

Optionally, in the apparatus according to the present invention, the information acquisition unit is further adapted to determine, based on the received radio frame, a device that transmits the radio frame from the surrounding devices; the information acquisition unit further includes: and the information association module is suitable for associating the determined equipment with the signal strength so as to facilitate the equipment confirming unit to determine the target equipment corresponding to the signal strength.

Optionally, in the apparatus according to the invention, the signal strength varies as a function of the location of the equipment to be networked and/or of surrounding equipment.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a system for configuring a network, comprising: the network equipment to be configured comprises the network configuration device; the networked equipment is suitable for sending equipment information of the equipment to be distributed to the server when receiving a network distribution request of the equipment to be distributed so as to be convenient for the server to authenticate, and is also suitable for sending the network distribution information to the equipment to be distributed when the authentication passes; and the server is suitable for authenticating the network equipment to be allocated based on the equipment information and returning the authentication result to the networked equipment.

Optionally, in the system according to the invention, the networked device is further adapted to encrypt the name of the target network and the password of the target network to generate the distribution network information.

Optionally, in the system according to the invention, the device information is a MAC address of the device, and the server is adapted to determine whether the MAC address is legitimate and to confirm that the authentication passes when the MAC address is legitimate.

Optionally, in the system according to the invention, the networked device is further adapted to record the distribution time after the network device to be distributed performs the distribution according to the distribution information.

Optionally, in the system according to the present invention, the networked device is further adapted to determine, after the network device to be configured performs network configuration according to the network configuration information, whether the acquired signal strength from the device is lower than a second preset value, and if the signal strength is lower than the second preset value, determine that a state of the device accessing the target network is changed; and determining the time interval of the change of the state of the equipment accessing the target network based on the recorded network allocation time.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a computing device including: at least one processor; and a memory storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions are configured to be adapted to be executed by the at least one processor, the program instructions comprising instructions for performing the method as described above.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a readable storage medium storing program instructions that, when read and executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform the method as described above.

According to the scheme of the invention, the signal intensity of the wireless frame from the surrounding networked equipment received by the equipment to be distributed is monitored, when the signal intensity is higher than the threshold value, the target equipment can be automatically triggered to be determined from the surrounding networked equipment, and the equipment to be distributed is distributed through the target equipment. In the scheme, the target device can be any one of the IoT devices, and the IoT devices are configured with the network according to the scheme of the invention.

Under the scene that the current household intelligent equipment is various and more in number, according to the scheme of the invention, for some intelligent equipment which does not support interaction such as keys/voices, when a user wants to configure a network for the intelligent equipment, the network can be directly configured for the intelligent equipment through one networked equipment in the scene, so that the user experience is greatly improved.

The foregoing description is only an overview of the present invention, and is intended to be implemented in accordance with the teachings of the present invention in order that the same may be more clearly understood and to make the same and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention more readily apparent.

Drawings

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings, which set forth the various ways in which the principles disclosed herein may be practiced, and all aspects and equivalents thereof are intended to fall within the scope of the claimed subject matter. The above, as well as additional objects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Like reference numerals generally refer to like parts or elements throughout the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a system 100 for configuring a network according to some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of a computing device 200 according to some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates an interaction diagram of a method 300 of configuring a network for a smart device according to some embodiments of the invention;

FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate a scenario diagram of acquiring signal strength according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of a method 500 of configuring a network according to some embodiments of the invention;

fig. 6 illustrates a schematic diagram of an apparatus 600 for configuring a network according to some embodiments of the invention.

Detailed Description

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. While exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present disclosure may be embodied in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a system 100 for configuring a network according to some embodiments of the invention. As shown in fig. 1, a system 100 includes a network to be configured device 110, at least one networked device 120, and a server 130. It should be noted that the system 100 shown in fig. 1 is only an example, and those skilled in the art will understand that, in practical applications, the system 100 may also include a plurality of network devices 110 to be configured. For example, in a home scenario, a plurality of smart devices are typically arranged, and when a network needs to be allocated to a certain smart device, the device is the current device 110 to be allocated.

The to-be-provisioned network device 110 and the networked device 120 may each be arranged as various intelligent devices having communication modules. One typical communication module is, for example, a WiFi module. A typical application scenario of the system 100 is a home scenario, where the to-be-networked device 110 and the networked device 120 may be various intelligent devices in the home, such as intelligent speakers, intelligent robots, intelligent televisions, intelligent sockets, intelligent light fixtures, intelligent air conditioners, and the like.

When the IoT device based on WiFi is used, the SSID (service set identifier) and PASSWD of the router to be connected are acquired, that is, the name and the password of the target network according to the embodiment of the present invention. Some smart devices have interactable modules that can receive gestures/voices and other instructions entered by a user and can also return corresponding responses to the user. For example, the smart television may receive an input from a user through a remote controller and display selected information to the user through a screen. For another example, a user may interact with the smart speaker through voice commands. For these intelligent devices, network connection can be realized more conveniently. For example, the user can input the name and the password of the target network through the keys of the mobile phone, so as to realize the networking of the mobile phone. Thus, in the system 100, such intelligent devices typically first perform a network configuration, as the networked devices 120, to communicate with the server 130.

While other intelligent devices, such as smart sockets, smart lamps, etc., lack an interactive module due to small size, etc., and therefore do not have interfaces for inputting/outputting information by means of keyboards, voice, etc. Thus, these devices cannot configure the network in a conventional manner. In the system 100, these intelligent devices act as network devices 110 to be provisioned. The embodiment of the invention provides a method for distributing the network for the devices 110 to be distributed. The network provisioning method according to the present invention is performed by arranging the network configuration apparatus 600 (for a description of the apparatus 600, see below) in the network to-be-provisioned device 110 to provision the network to-be-provisioned device 110 using the networked device 120, so that the network to-be-provisioned device 110 can also communicate with the server 130.

When the network device 110 is networked, the user may remotely control the device via the client application to perform certain functions. Such as a switch of a remote or voice controlled outlet; for another example, the intelligent lamp is controlled to be switched on or switched off, color temperature is regulated, and the like.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, both the to-be-provisioned device 110 and the networked device 120 in the system 100 may be implemented by the computing device 200 as described below. FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of a computing device 200 according to one embodiment of the invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, in a basic configuration 202, computing device 200 typically includes a system memory 206 and one or more processors 204. A memory bus 208 may be used for communication between the processor 204 and the system memory 206.

Depending on the desired configuration, the processor 204 may be any type of processing including, but not limited to: a microprocessor (μp), a microcontroller (μc), a digital information processor (DSP), or any combination thereof. Processor 204 may include one or more levels of cache, such as a first level cache 210 and a second level cache 212, a processor core 214, and registers 216. The example processor core 214 may include an Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), a Floating Point Unit (FPU), a digital signal processing core (DSP core), or any combination thereof. The example memory controller 218 may be used with the processor 204, or in some implementations, the memory controller 218 may be an internal part of the processor 204.

Depending on the desired configuration, system memory 206 may be any type of memory including, but not limited to: volatile memory (such as RAM), non-volatile memory (such as ROM, flash memory, etc.), or any combination thereof. The system memory 206 may include an operating system 220, one or more applications 222, and program data 224. In some implementations, the application 222 may be arranged to execute instructions on an operating system by the one or more processors 204 using the program data 224.

Computing device 200 may also include an interface bus 240 that facilitates communication from various interface devices (e.g., output devices 242, peripheral interfaces 244, and communication devices 246) to basic configuration 202 via bus/interface controller 230. The example output device 242 includes a graphics processing unit 248 and an audio processing unit 250. They may be configured to facilitate communication with various external devices, such as a display or speakers, via one or more a/V ports 252. The example peripheral interface 244 may include a serial interface controller 254 and a parallel interface controller 256, which may be configured to facilitate communication via one or more I/O ports 258 and external devices such as input devices (e.g., keyboard, mouse, pen, voice input device, touch input device) or other peripherals (e.g., printer, scanner, etc.). The example communication device 246 may include a network controller 260 that may be arranged to facilitate communication with one or more other computing devices 262 over a network communication link via one or more communication ports 264.

The network communication link may be one example of a communication medium. Communication media may typically be embodied by computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, and may include any information delivery media in a modulated data signal, such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism. A "modulated data signal" may be a signal that has one or more of its data set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of non-limiting example, communication media may include wired media such as a wired network or special purpose network, and wireless media such as acoustic, radio Frequency (RF), microwave, infrared (IR) or other wireless media. The term computer readable media as used herein may include both storage media and communication media.

Computing device 200 may be implemented as a personal computer, including desktop and notebook computer configurations, as well as servers, such as file servers, database servers, application servers, WEB servers, and the like. Of course, computing device 200 may also be implemented as part of a small-sized portable (or mobile) electronic device. In an embodiment according to the invention, the computing device 200 is configured to perform a method of configuring a network for a network device to be provisioned according to the invention. The application 222 of the computing device 200 contains a plurality of program instructions for performing the method according to the invention.

Fig. 3 shows an interaction diagram of a method 300 of performing a network configuration in the system 100 according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 3, the method 300 begins at step S310.

In step S310, the network to be configured device 110 receives a radio frame (i.e., a message of a radio signal) from a surrounding device (generally, the surrounding device, i.e., at least one networked device 120 in the system 100) and acquires its signal strength.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, each device in system 100, after being booted, defaults to on promiscuous mode to receive a radio frame in the air (referring to the wireless environment in air). In this way, the to-be-provisioned network device 110 receives wireless frames from other surrounding networked devices 120. The promiscuous mode simply is to be able to grab all radio frames in the current channel in the air.

In general, a radio frame includes information such as a device identifier, a MAC address, and a signal strength of the radio frame of a device transmitting the radio frame. In one embodiment, the signal strength is represented by RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication ). In general, the distance between two devices is inversely related to RSSI, with the closer the distance the greater the RSSI and the farther the distance the smaller the RSSI.

According to one embodiment, the network to be configured device 110 parses a radio frame after receiving the radio frame, and obtains a device identifier (i.e., determines a device that transmits the radio frame) and a signal strength of the radio frame. Next, the network device 110 to be provisioned associates the device with the signal strength. In one embodiment, the network to be provisioned device 110 stores device identifications in association with signal strengths, generating a list of wireless devices.

The data structure of the radio frame is not specifically developed here, and the chips of the manufacturers of the smart devices can support the information of the radio frame.

As described above, the signal strength RSSI acquired by the network device 110 to be configured is inversely proportional to the distance between the network device 110 to be configured and the networked device 120, and based on this rule of RSSI, the automatic configuration state is automatically triggered by the value of the RSSI in the embodiment according to the present invention. Specifically, during the process of receiving the wireless frame by the network device 110 to be configured, the relative distance between the network device and the at least one networked device 120 is also changed.

In one embodiment, the acquired signal strength is changed by changing the location of the network device 110 to be provisioned. For example, the network device 110 to be configured gradually approaches to a networked device 120, and the corresponding signal strength acquired by the network device 110 to be configured gradually increases.

In yet another embodiment, the acquired signal strength is changed by changing the location of surrounding devices (e.g., surrounding one of the networked devices 120). For example, the network device 120 is gradually approaching the network device 110 to be configured, and the corresponding signal strength acquired by the network device 110 to be configured is also gradually increased.

In some implementations according to the invention, although there is more than one networked device 120 in the system 100, the targeted networked device 120 is substantially deterministic when the network is to be provisioned to the network device 110. For example, a network may be configured for other intelligent devices in the home through a networked intelligent speaker. As another example, one networked device 120 may be placed in each space (e.g., bedroom, living room, study room, kitchen, etc.) in a home, which is networked to other intelligent devices within the space. Embodiments of the present invention do not impose excessive limitations on this.

Fig. 4A-4C illustrate a scenario for acquiring signal strength according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4A and 4B show diagrams of acquiring signal strength according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 4A, the network device 110 (e.g., a mobile intelligent air purifier) is initially located at a distance of 1 meter from the networked device 120 (e.g., a smart speaker), and the RSSI value received by the network device 110 is-45 dBm. Then, the to-be-configured network device 110 gradually approaches the networked device 120, and the RSSI value received by the to-be-configured network device 110 gradually becomes larger, as shown in fig. 4B, where the distance between the to-be-configured network device 110 and the networked device 120 is 50 cm.

Fig. 4A and 4C are schematic diagrams showing acquiring signal strength according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 4A, the initial distance between the to-be-distributed network device 110 (for example, an intelligent socket fixed on a wall) and the networked device 120 (for example, an intelligent speaker) is 1 meter, and at this time, the RSSI value received by the to-be-distributed network device 110 is-45 dBm. At this time, the to-be-distributed network device 110 cannot move, so that the networked device 120 is moved to gradually approach the to-be-distributed network device 110, and accordingly, the RSSI value gradually becomes larger, as shown in fig. 4C, and the distance between the to-be-distributed network device 110 and the networked device 120 is 50 cm.

Then in step S320, when the acquired signal strength is higher than the threshold, the network to be configured device 110 determines that the device corresponding to the signal strength is the target device. The target device is a device that is connected to the target network, among the surrounding networked devices 120, and is capable of providing the target network name and password to the network-to-be-provisioned device 110.

According to one embodiment, the network to be provisioned device 110 is always receiving radio frames in the air interface and updates the corresponding device identification and signal strength of each radio frame into the wireless device list. Meanwhile, the network equipment 110 to be configured monitors the acquired signal strength and determines whether the acquired signal strength is higher than a threshold. When it is confirmed that the signal strength higher than the threshold value occurs, a device associated with the signal strength is selected as a target device.

It should be noted that, once the network device 110 to be configured monitors that the acquired signal strength is higher than the threshold (and there is no relation to how much higher than the threshold), the device corresponding to the signal strength is confirmed to be the target device. In addition, the threshold value of the signal strength may be set according to the actual service scenario, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present invention, so long as it is ensured that the to-be-configured network device 110 and the networked device 120 can successfully configure the network when the to-be-configured network device reaches the threshold value range. In one embodiment, the threshold range of signal strength is set at-30 dBm to 0dBm.

As shown in fig. 4B or 4C, when the distance between the to-be-configured network device 110 and the networked device 120 reaches a certain value (for example, 50 cm), the RSSI value acquired by the to-be-configured network device 110 is-20 dBm, and at this time, the to-be-configured network device 110 confirms that the networked device 120 is the target device.

In other implementations, the network device 110 is not sure which device is the networked device 120, so the network device 110 can only attempt to change its position in a certain direction, and monitor the acquired signal strength, and see if the signal strength is greater. If the signal strength is gradually increased, the position can be continuously changed according to the current moving direction; if the signal strength does not become large, the direction of movement is changed, and the position is attempted to be changed to other directions until the monitored signal strength is higher than the threshold value.

Subsequently, in step S330, the network to be distributed device 110 sends a network distribution request to the target device.

According to the embodiment of the invention, the network allocation request contains the device information of the network to be allocated 110. In one embodiment, the request for the network to be configured (i.e., the radio frame sent by the network to be configured device 110) includes the MAC address of the network to be configured device 110.

For example, the network to be provisioned device 110 sends a network provisioning request to the target device: i are MAC1, requesting a distribution network.

The target device receives the network allocation request, and in the following step S340, the target device parses the network allocation request to obtain the device information of the device to be allocated 110.

Subsequently, in step S350, the target device sends the device information of the device 110 to be configured to the server 130, and requests the server 130 for the configuration of the network.

For example, the target device sends a message to the server 130: i am MAC2, MAC1 requests the distribution network, requiring authentication.

The server 130 receives the device information, and in the following step S360, authenticates the device information of the network device 110 to be configured.

In one embodiment, a list of legal MAC addresses is pre-stored on the server 130, and when the server 130 receives the device information, that is, the MAC address of the to-be-configured network device 110, the server 130 determines, according to the pre-stored list, whether the MAC address is legal or not: if the MAC address is confirmed to be legal, the authentication is passed; if the MAC address is not legal, the authentication is not passed.

Then in step S370, the server 130 returns the authentication result to the target device.

For example, the server 130 returns a message to the target device: the MAC1 passes authentication and can be matched with a network.

The target device receives the authentication result and transmits the distribution network information to the network device 110 to be distributed when the authentication is passed in the following step S380.

In one embodiment, to ensure security of the network allocation information, the target device encrypts the name of the target network and the password of the target network to obtain the network allocation information. And then transmits the distribution network information to the network device 110 to be distributed.

In the following step S390, the network to be distributed device 110 performs network distribution according to the network distribution information.

In one embodiment according to the present invention, the to-be-provisioned-network apparatus 110 decrypts the provisioning information when it receives the provisioning information, resulting in the name of the target network and the password of the target network. Then, the to-be-configured network device 110 directly sends the name of the target network and the password of the target network to the server 130, and requests the configuration network.

It should be understood that the embodiment of the present invention does not limit what method is used to encrypt and decrypt the name and the password of the target network, and any encryption and decryption method may be combined with the embodiment of the present invention to implement the network distribution scheme of the present invention.

In step S3100, when the server 130 returns a connection success message, the distribution network is successful.

Thereafter, the network device 110 can serve as the networked device 120 in the system 100 to perform network distribution for other network devices 110.

According to the network distribution method 300 of the present invention, based on the characteristics of RSSI, a networked device a is used to approach a device B to be distributed, and when the distance between two devices is sufficiently small, the device a can be automatically triggered to perform network distribution for the device B, so as to complete the process of password interaction. In accordance with the method 300 of the present invention, there are no special requirements on networked devices (e.g., no user instructions are required to wake device a up for network provisioning), and device-to-device communication is generally achieved.

In accordance with further embodiments of the present invention, another method of configuring a network for a device is provided to optimize the method 300 described above, considering that the air interface environment may affect the signal strength of received radio frames.

The method starts in step S310, according to an embodiment of the present invention, where the network device 110 obtains the signal strength of the radio frame from the surrounding devices. The description of step S310 may be referred to the foregoing, and will not be repeated here.

In a subsequent step, the magnitude of the acquired signal strength is determined by the network equipment 110 to be configured, and after the acquired signal strength is a first predetermined value, a trend of change in the signal strength is determined. In one embodiment, the signal strength value is recorded for a period of time from the time when the acquired signal strength reaches a first predetermined value, and the frequency of change of the signal strength per unit time (or fixed period of time) is calculated to characterize the trend of change of the signal strength. The first predetermined value may be set according to an actual traffic scenario. For example, if the distance between the two devices reaches 1 meter, the trend of the signal strength change can be further confirmed, and then the signal strength value (for example, -45 dBm) corresponding to 1 meter is the first predetermined value.

And then, judging the change trend of the signal strength, if the change trend of the signal strength is incremental, considering that the relative distance between the equipment 110 to be distributed and the target equipment is reduced, and at the moment, determining the equipment corresponding to the signal strength as the target equipment.

Subsequently, the steps S330 to S3100 are continuously executed, the to-be-configured network device 110 sends a network configuration request to the target device, so that the target device sends network configuration information to the to-be-configured network device when authentication passes, and then the to-be-configured network device 110 performs network configuration according to the network configuration information.

Fig. 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of a method 500 of configuring a network for a network device 110 to be provisioned in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The method 500 is adapted to be performed in the network device 110 to be provisioned. It should be noted that, in view of the fact that some steps in the method 500 are identical to those in the method 300, for identical steps, reference numerals in the method 300 are used for description, and detailed descriptions are not repeated.

The method 500 starts at step S310. In step S310, the network to be configured device 110 acquires the signal strength of the radio frame from the surrounding devices.

According to one embodiment, the network device 110 to be provisioned is in promiscuous mode and is capable of receiving all radio frames in the air interface. After receiving the radio frame, the to-be-configured network device 110 parses the radio frame, obtains the signal strength of the radio frame, and determines a device that transmits the radio frame. The network device 110 to be provisioned then associates the device with the signal strength.

In an embodiment according to the present invention, the distance between the to-be-provisioned-network device 110 and the networked device 120 is changed to change the acquired signal strength while the to-be-provisioned-network device 110 receives the radio frame. Alternatively, the signal strength of the radio frame acquired by the network device 110 to be distributed may be changed by changing the position of the network device 110 to be distributed; the signal strength of the wireless frames acquired by the network device 110 to be provisioned may also be changed by changing the location of the networked device 120. In summary, it is within the scope of the present invention to change the signal strength obtained by the network device 110 by changing the distance between the network device 110 and the networked device 120.

Then in step S320, when the acquired signal strength is higher than the threshold value, it is determined that the device corresponding to the signal strength is the target device.

According to one embodiment, the network device 110 monitors the acquired signal strength and determines whether the acquired signal strength is above a threshold. When the acquired signal strength is confirmed to be higher than the threshold value, selecting the device associated with the signal strength as the target device.

For a description of the signal strength threshold, reference is made to the description of the method 300, and the description is omitted here.

Then in step S330, the network to be configured device 110 sends a network configuration request to the target device, so that the target device sends network configuration information to the network to be configured device when authentication passes.

In one embodiment, the target device sends the device information of the network device 110 to be configured to the server 130, and the server 130 confirms whether the device information is legal. If the equipment information is legal, passing authentication; if the equipment information is illegal, the authentication is not passed. The server 130 returns the result of passing or failing authentication to the target device, so that the target device sends the distribution network information to the to-be-distributed network device 110 when passing authentication.

In order to ensure the security of the communication in the whole distribution network process, in the embodiment of the invention, the distribution network information sent by the target device is encryption information.

Subsequently, in step S390, the to-be-configured network device 110 performs network configuration according to the received network configuration information.

In one embodiment, the process of performing the network allocation according to the network allocation information may be divided into the following two steps. Firstly, decrypting the distribution network information to obtain the name of the target network and the password of the target network. Then, the network to be configured device sends a request to the server 130 according to the name of the target network and the password of the target network, and requests to connect to the target network. When the server 130 returns a connection success message, the network allocation is successful.

In still other embodiments, after the network to be configured 110 is configured successfully based on the network configuration information, the target device (i.e. the networked device 120) also records the network configuration success time (denoted as t 1) of the network to be configured 110 as the network configuration time. Thereafter, the target device continues to receive the wireless frame from the device 110, and when the signal strength of the wireless frame is below a second preset value, the state of the device 110 accessing the target network is considered to change (e.g., from a networked state to an unconnected state). And then, determining the time interval of the state change of the access target network based on the recorded network allocation time. That is, the time when the state changes (denoted as t 2) is recorded, and the distribution network time t1 is subtracted from the time when the state changes t2, that is, the time interval when the state changes.

In some implementations, the devices may be managed with time intervals in which the device state changes. For example, applying the system of the configuration network to a garage management system, the device 110 is an on-board IoT device and the target device 120 is an IoT device disposed in a parking lot. When the vehicle enters the parking lot, the vehicle-mounted IoT device is closer to the target device, and at this time, the target device performs network allocation for the vehicle-mounted IoT device, and records the time t1 when the network allocation is successful. When the vehicle leaves the parking lot, the vehicle-mounted IoT device is farther and farther away from the target device, and the state of the vehicle-mounted IoT device accessing the target network is determined to change until the signal intensity from the vehicle-mounted IoT device acquired by the target device is lower than a second preset value. The distance range corresponding to the second preset value is the distance range of the vehicle from the parking lot, which is determined through experiments. At this time, the target device can determine the parking time of the vehicle in the parking lot by calculating the time interval when the state of the vehicle-mounted IoT device accessing the target network changes, so as to plan and manage the parking space in the garage, the parking cost of the vehicle, and the like.

Fig. 6 illustrates a schematic diagram of an apparatus 600 for configuring a network according to some embodiments of the invention. As shown in fig. 6, the apparatus 600 includes: an information acquisition unit 610, a device confirmation unit 620, an information transmission unit 630, and a network connection unit 640.

Wherein the information acquisition unit 610 acquires the signal strength of the radio frame from the surrounding devices. In an embodiment according to the present invention, the signal strength may vary as the location of the network device 110 to be provisioned and/or its surrounding devices (e.g., the surrounding networked devices 120) varies. The device confirmation unit 620 determines, when the acquired signal strength is higher than the threshold, a device corresponding to the signal strength as the target device. The information transmitting unit 630 transmits a network allocation request to the target device, so that the target device transmits network allocation information to the device to be allocated when authentication passes. The network connection unit 640 (for example, a unit having a WiFi communication function) performs network distribution according to the network distribution information.

In other embodiments, the information acquisition unit 610 may also determine a device that transmits a radio frame from the surrounding networked devices 120 based on the received radio frame. Meanwhile, the information obtaining unit 610 further includes an information associating module 612 capable of associating the determined device with the signal strength so that the device confirmation unit 620 determines the target device corresponding to the signal strength.

It should be appreciated that the detailed description of the apparatus 600 may be referred to above with respect to the description of the method 300, and the description is limited and will not be expanded.

The various techniques described herein may be implemented in connection with hardware or software or, alternatively, with a combination of both. Thus, the methods and apparatus of the present invention, or certain aspects or portions of the methods and apparatus of the present invention, may take the form of program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as removable hard drives, U-drives, floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, or any other machine-readable storage medium, wherein, when the program is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention.

In the case of program code execution on programmable computers, the computing device will generally include a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device, and at least one output device. Wherein the memory is configured to store program code; the processor is configured to perform the method of the invention in accordance with instructions in said program code stored in the memory.

By way of example, and not limitation, readable media comprise readable storage media and communication media. The readable storage medium stores information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. Combinations of any of the above are also included within the scope of readable media.

In the description provided herein, algorithms and displays are not inherently related to any particular computer, virtual system, or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may also be used with examples of the invention. The required structure for a construction of such a system is apparent from the description above. In addition, the present invention is not directed to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that the teachings of the present invention described herein may be implemented in a variety of programming languages, and the above description of specific languages is provided for disclosure of enablement and best mode of the present invention.

In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the foregoing description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. However, the disclosed method should not be construed as reflecting the intention that: i.e., the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the modules or units or components of the devices in the examples disclosed herein may be arranged in a device as described in this embodiment, or alternatively may be located in one or more devices different from the devices in this example. The modules in the foregoing examples may be combined into one module or may be further divided into a plurality of sub-modules.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the modules in the apparatus of the embodiments may be adaptively changed and disposed in one or more apparatuses different from the embodiments. The modules or units or components of the embodiments may be combined into one module or unit or component and, furthermore, they may be divided into a plurality of sub-modules or sub-units or sub-components. Any combination of all features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and all of the processes or units of any method or apparatus so disclosed, may be used in combination, except insofar as at least some of such features and/or processes or units are mutually exclusive. Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise.

Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that while some embodiments described herein include some features but not others included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention and form different embodiments. For example, in the following claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.

Furthermore, some of the embodiments are described herein as methods or combinations of method elements that may be implemented by a processor of a computer system or by other means of performing the functions. Thus, a processor with the necessary instructions for implementing the described method or method element forms a means for implementing the method or method element. Furthermore, the elements of the apparatus embodiments described herein are examples of the following apparatus: the apparatus is for carrying out the functions performed by the elements for carrying out the objects of the invention.

As used herein, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinal terms "first," "second," "third," etc., to describe a general object merely denote different instances of like objects, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must have a given order, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner.

While the invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefit of the above description, will appreciate that other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the invention as described herein. Furthermore, it should be noted that the language used in the specification has been principally selected for readability and instructional purposes, and may not have been selected to delineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. Accordingly, many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims. The disclosure of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for configuring a network for a device, the method for configuring a network for a device being applied to a device to be configured with a network, comprising the steps of:

acquiring signal strength of a radio frame from surrounding equipment;

when the acquired signal strength is higher than a threshold value, determining that equipment corresponding to the signal strength is target equipment;

sending a distribution network request to target equipment so that the target equipment can send distribution network information to equipment to be distributed when authentication passes; and

The distribution network is carried out according to the distribution network information,

the target equipment is further adapted to determine whether the acquired signal strength from the network equipment to be distributed is lower than a second preset value after the network distribution is performed according to the network distribution information, and if the signal strength is lower than the second preset value, the state of the network equipment to be distributed accessing the target network is determined to be changed; and determining the time interval of the change of the state of the equipment to be distributed accessing the target network based on the recorded network distribution time.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of acquiring the signal strength of the radio frame from the surrounding devices further comprises:

determining, based on the received radio frame, a device that sent the radio frame;

the device is associated with a signal strength.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the step of acquiring the signal strength of the radio frame from the surrounding device further comprises:

and changing the position of the equipment to be distributed to change the acquired signal strength.

4. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the step of acquiring the signal strength of the radio frame from the surrounding device further comprises:

The location of surrounding devices is changed to change the acquired signal strength.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of determining that the device corresponding to the signal strength is the target device when the acquired signal strength is higher than the threshold value comprises:

monitoring the acquired signal strength;

judging whether the acquired signal strength is higher than a threshold value;

and when the signal strength is confirmed to be higher than a threshold value, selecting the equipment associated with the signal strength as target equipment.

6. The method of any one of claims 1-5, wherein the distribution network information is encrypted information, and,

the step of distributing the network according to the network distribution information comprises the following steps:

decrypting the distribution network information to obtain the name of the target network and the password of the target network;

and connecting the target network according to the name of the target network and the password of the target network.

7. A method for configuring a network for a device, the method for configuring a network for a device being applied to a device to be configured with a network, comprising the steps of:

acquiring signal strength of a radio frame from surrounding equipment;

after the acquired signal strength is a first preset value, determining the change trend of the signal strength;

When the change trend of the signal intensity is increasing, determining the equipment corresponding to the signal intensity as target equipment;

sending a distribution network request to target equipment so that the target equipment can send distribution network information to the equipment to be distributed when authentication passes; and

8. An apparatus for configuring a network, comprising:

an information acquisition unit adapted to acquire signal strength of a radio frame from a surrounding apparatus;

the device confirming unit is suitable for determining the device corresponding to the signal strength as the target device when the acquired signal strength is higher than a threshold value;

The information sending unit is suitable for sending a network distribution request to the target equipment so as to facilitate the target equipment to send network distribution information to the equipment to be distributed when the authentication passes;

a network connection unit adapted to perform distribution according to the distribution information,

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein,

the information acquisition unit is further adapted to determine, based on the received radio frame, a device from among surrounding devices that transmits the radio frame; and

the information acquisition unit further includes:

and the information association module is suitable for associating the determined equipment with the signal strength so that the equipment confirming unit can determine the target equipment corresponding to the signal strength.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 or 9, wherein the signal strength varies as a function of the location of the network device to be paired and/or surrounding devices.

11. A system for configuring a network, comprising:

a network equipment to be configured, comprising a network configuration device according to any one of claims 8-10;

the networked equipment is suitable for sending equipment information of the equipment to be distributed to the server when receiving the network distribution request of the equipment to be distributed so as to be convenient for the server to authenticate, and is also suitable for sending the network distribution information to the equipment to be distributed when the authentication passes;

and the server is suitable for authenticating the equipment to be distributed based on the equipment information and returning the authentication result to the networked equipment.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein,

the networked device is further adapted to encrypt a name of the target network and a password of the target network to generate the distribution network information.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the device information is a MAC address of a device, and

the server is suitable for judging whether the MAC address is legal or not, and confirming that the authentication is passed when the MAC address is legal.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein,

The networked equipment is further suitable for recording network distribution time after the network distribution is carried out on the equipment to be distributed according to the network distribution information.

15. A computing device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

a memory storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions are configured to be adapted to be executed by the at least one processor, the program instructions comprising instructions for performing the method of any of claims 1-7.

16. A readable storage medium storing program instructions which, when read and executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform the method of any of claims 1-7.