CN114374954A - Network device and network connection method - Google Patents

Abstract

The application provides a network device and a network connection method. The network device includes a processor circuit and a plurality of transceiver circuits. A plurality of transceiver circuits are connected to the wireless access point via the base channel based on control of the processor circuit. The wireless access point is also connected to the first device. The processor circuit is configured to: confirming whether the tunnel direct link setup link throughput on the basic channel is larger than or equal to a first critical value; if the throughput of the tunnel direct link setup link is greater than or equal to the first critical value, executing an automatic channel selection algorithm to determine whether to establish an extended channel; and if the expansion channel is determined to be established, executing one of a dual-frequency parallel mode and a multi-channel parallel mode according to the number of the antennas corresponding to the transceiver circuit so as to control at least one of the transceiver circuit to be connected to the first device through the expansion channel.

Description

Network device and network connection method

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a network device, and more particularly, to a network device and a network connection method using a tunneled direct link setup (tunneled direct link setup) standard.

Background

Tunnel Direct Link Setup (TDLS) is a new communication standard. With this standard, two Wi-Fi enabled devices can establish a direct link to communicate after joining the same Wi-Fi network without having to transmit data through a wireless access point that provides the Wi-Fi network. In the tunnel direct link setup standard, a communication protocol related to TDLS Channel switching (Channel Switch) is provided. If the direct link has been successfully established between the two devices, the two devices can be allowed to synchronously leave the basic channel where the wireless access point is located and switch to the pre-agreed additional channel for data transmission through the TDLS link. In the standard specification, the two devices still need to maintain a connection with the wireless access point after the point-to-point additional channel is established. In order to maintain a connection with the wireless access point, these devices need to periodically switch between the extra channel and the base channel connected to the wireless access point. As a result, the data transmission performance may be degraded due to the transient process of channel switching and/or the poor synchronization of the channel switching operations performed by the two devices.

Disclosure of Invention

In some embodiments, a network device includes a processor circuit and a plurality of transceiver circuits. The plurality of transceiver circuits are configured to connect to a wireless access point via a fundamental channel based on a control of the processor circuit, wherein the wireless access point is further connected to a first device. The processor circuit is configured to determine whether a tunnel direct link setup link throughput on the basic channel is greater than or equal to a first threshold; if the tunnel direct link setup link throughput is greater than or equal to the first threshold, executing an automatic channel selection algorithm to determine whether to establish an extended channel; and if the expansion channel is determined to be established, executing one of a dual-frequency parallel mode and a multi-channel parallel mode according to the number of the antennas corresponding to the transceiver circuit so as to control at least one of the transceiver circuit to be connected to the first device through the expansion channel.

In some embodiments, the network connection method includes the following operations: connecting to a wireless access point via a basic channel, and determining whether a tunneled direct link setup link throughput on the basic channel is greater than or equal to a first threshold, wherein the wireless access point is further connected to a first device; if the tunnel direct link setup link throughput is greater than or equal to the first threshold, executing an automatic channel selection algorithm to determine whether to establish an extended channel; and if the expansion channel is determined to be established, executing one of a dual-frequency parallel mode and a multi-channel parallel mode according to the number of the antennas so as to connect to the first device through the expansion channel.

The features, implementations, and technical advantages of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram depicting a network device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for network connectivity according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 3A is a schematic diagram illustrating the network device of fig. 1 having a number of antennas greater than or equal to a predetermined number according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3B is a flow chart depicting an operation of FIG. 2 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram illustrating the network device of FIG. 1 having a number of antennas less than a predetermined number according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4B is a flowchart outlining an operation of FIG. 2 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

fig. 4C is a flow chart depicting a step in fig. 4B according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Description of the symbols

100: network device

100A: wireless Access Point (AP)

100B: device for measuring the position of a moving object

101: basic channel

102: expanding channel

110: transceiver circuit

112: antenna with a shield

114: interface circuit

116: processor circuit

118: memory circuit

200: network connection method

AP-link: AP link

NC: preset number value

P1, P2: period of time

RA: ratio of

S205, S210, S220, S230, S240, S250: operation of

S31, S41, S42, S43: step (ii) of

S41-1, S41-2, S41-3: substeps of

T1, T2: time-meter

TDLS-link: tunnel Direct Link Setup (TDLS) link

TH 1-TH 3: critical value

TPA: AP link throughput

TPT: TDLS link throughput

Δ, Ω: system parameter

Detailed Description

All words used herein have their ordinary meaning. The definitions of the above-mentioned words in commonly used dictionaries, any use of the words discussed herein in this disclosure is intended to be exemplary only and should not be construed as limiting the scope and meaning of the disclosure. Likewise, the present disclosure is not limited to the various embodiments shown in this specification.

As used herein, the term "couple" or "connect" refers to two or more elements being in direct physical or electrical contact with each other, or in indirect physical or electrical contact with each other, or to two or more elements operating or acting together. As used herein, the term "circuitry" may be a single system formed by at least one circuit (circuit), and the term "circuit" may be a device connected by at least one transistor and/or at least one active and passive component in a certain manner to process a signal.

As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any combination of one or more of the associated listed items. The terms first, second, third and the like may be used herein to describe and distinguish various elements. Thus, a first element can be termed a second element herein without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. For ease of understanding, like elements in the various figures will be designated with the same reference numerals.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram depicting a network device 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the network device 100 and the other device 100B may operate in a user mode (client mode) to establish a connection with a wireless Access Point (AP) 100A via a base channel (base channel) 101. In some embodiments, each of the network device 100 and the device 100B may be, but is not limited to, a personal computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, a television, and the like. In some embodiments, the network device 100 may be wired to the device 100B based on the IEEE 802.11z direct link setup (TDLS) standard. As shown in fig. 1, in an initial operating condition, the network devices 100 and 100B are connected to the wireless access point 100A (i.e., AP-link) through the fundamental channel 101, and the network devices 100 and 100B are connected to each other on the fundamental channel 101 based on the TDLS standard (i.e., TDLS-link). Through the TDLS-link, the network device 100 and the device 100B can directly exchange data.

In some embodiments, the network device 100 includes a plurality of transceiver circuits 110, a plurality of antennas 112, an interface circuit 114, a processor circuit 116, and a memory circuit 118. The transceiver circuits 110 are independent of each other and can exchange data with the wireless access point 100A and/or the device 100B via the antennas 112. In some embodiments, each transceiver circuit 110 may include Medium Access Control (MAC) layer circuitry (and/or baseband circuitry) and rf front-end circuitry. The interface circuit 114 is used to couple the transceiver circuits 110 to the processor circuit 116. In some embodiments, the interface circuit 114 may be, but is not limited to, a Secure Digital Input and Output (SDIO) interface circuit, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) circuit, a peripheral component interconnect (PCI-E) interface, or the like.

In some embodiments, the memory circuit 118 stores one or more program codes, and the processor circuit 116 can execute the one or more program codes to perform the operations of fig. 2 described below to determine whether to establish an extended channel (off-channel). In some embodiments, if it is determined to establish the extension channel, the processor circuit 116 may control the transceiver circuit 110 to switch TDLS-link to the extension channel (e.g., the extension channel 102 in fig. 3A or fig. 4A). In some embodiments, the transceiver circuits 110, the antennas 112, and the interface circuit 114 may be a device side, and the processor circuit 116 and the memory circuit 118 may be a host (host) side. In some embodiments, the one or more program codes stored in the memory circuit 118 may be, but are not limited to, a driver of the device. In some embodiments, the memory circuit 118 further stores a plurality of threshold values TH 1-TH 3, a plurality of timers T1-T2, and a plurality of system parameters (e.g., including a preset value NC, a system parameter Δ, and a system parameter Ω).

In some embodiments, during operation, the processor circuit 116 may monitor the operation information of the base channel 101 (and/or the extension channel 102) to calculate a TDLS link throughput (throughput) TPT and an AP link throughput TPA on the base channel 101. The processor circuit 116 may further determine whether to switch the channel of the TDLS-link according to the TDLS link throughput TPT (and AP link throughput TPA), the threshold TH 1-TH 3, and a plurality of system parameters. The detailed operations herein will be described later with reference to other figures. In some embodiments, the TDLS link throughput TPT may be, but is not limited to, the average amount of data successfully exchanged between the network device 100 and the device 100B via the TDLS-link on the base channel 101. In some embodiments, the AP link throughput TPA may be, but is not limited to, the average amount of data successfully exchanged between the network device 100 and the wireless access point 100A via the AP-link on the fundamental channel 101.

In some embodiments, the processor circuit 116 may be, but is not limited to, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), an Application-specific integrated circuit (Application-specific integrated circuit), a multiprocessor, a pipelined processor, and/or a distributed processing system. Various circuits or units for implementing the processor circuit 116 are within the scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the memory circuit 118 may be, but is not limited to, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. For example, a computer-readable storage medium includes a temporary memory, a semiconductor or solid state memory, a magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and/or an optical magnetic disk. In embodiments that use optical disks, the computer-readable storage medium may comprise compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk read-only memory (CD-R/W), and/or Digital Versatile Disk (DVD).

Fig. 2 is a flow chart depicting a network connection method 200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the network connection method 200 may be performed by, but is not limited to, the processor circuit 116 of fig. 1.

In operation S210, it is determined whether the TDLS link throughput on the fundamental channel is greater than or equal to a first threshold. If the TDLS link throughput is greater than or equal to the first threshold, operation S220 is performed. Alternatively, if the TDLS link throughput is less than the first threshold, operation S230 is performed.

For example, if the processor circuit 116 detects that the TDLS link throughput TPT is greater than or equal to the threshold TH1, which indicates that the amount of data transmitted via the TDLS link is high enough, the processor circuit 116 can determine whether to switch the TDLS-link to another channel. Conversely, if the processor circuit 116 detects that the TDLS link throughput TPT is less than the threshold TH1, the processor circuit 116 may maintain the TDLS-link on the base channel 101.

In operation S220, an Auto Channel Selection (ACS) algorithm is performed to determine whether to establish an extended channel. If the extended channel is determined to be established, operation S240 is performed. Otherwise, if it is not determined to establish the extension channel, operation S230 is performed.

For example, when the TDLS link throughput TPT is greater than or equal to the threshold TH1, the processor circuit 116 may control the plurality of transceiver circuits 110 to operate in a dual-band parallel (DBCC) mode to perform background scanning and data collection. In the DBCC mode, the network device 100 may configure one transceiver circuit 110 and corresponding antenna 112 to the AP-link and TDLS-link to maintain connectivity to the wireless access points 100A and the device 100B on the fundamental channel 101, and may configure another transceiver circuit 110 and corresponding antenna 112 to perform background scanning. The processor circuit 116 may obtain the wireless channel information (such as, but not limited to, the number of channels, the interference level, etc.) during the background scanning process, and perform an ACS algorithm according to the wireless channel information to determine whether to establish an extension channel, and automatically select the frequency band position of the extension channel. If the proper frequency band exists in the current operating environment, the processor circuit 116 may determine to establish the extension channel. Conversely, if the current operating environment does not have a suitable frequency band (e.g., the interference level is too high), the processor circuit 116 may decide not to set up the extension channel and maintain the TDLS-link on the base channel 101.

In some embodiments, the ACS algorithm is a survey-based algorithm (survey-based algorithm). The processor circuit 116 may issue a survey command (not shown) to consult the apparatus 100B to obtain the aforementioned radio channel information. In some embodiments, the processor circuit 116 may reduce the number of channels to be scanned according to the channel list exchanged during the TDLS-link setup process, so as to reduce the required amount of operations.

With continued reference to fig. 2, in operation S230, the channel switching procedure is ended, and the first timer is set. For example, the processor circuit 116 may set the timer T1 when the TDLS link throughput TPT is less than the threshold TH1 or when it is determined that no extension channel is established. In operation S240, one of a DBCC mode and a multi-channel parallel (MCC) mode is performed according to the number of antennas corresponding to the plurality of transceiver circuits to control at least one of the plurality of transceiver circuits to be wired to the device 100B via the extended channel. In operation S250, a second timer is set. After operation 240, the processor circuit 116 switches the TDLS-link onto the extension channel 102 and may set a timer T2. In operation S205, if the first timer or the second timer expires, operation S210 is performed again to determine whether the TDLS link throughput TPT is greater than or equal to the threshold TH 1. The description about operation S240 will be described later with reference to fig. 3A to 4C.

For the above description of the operations of the network connection method 200, reference may be made to the above embodiments, and therefore, the description thereof is omitted. The above operations are merely examples, and need not be performed in the order in this example. The various operations under the network connectivity method 200 may be added, substituted, omitted, or performed in a different order, as appropriate, without departing from the manner of operation and scope of the embodiments of the disclosure. Alternatively, one or more operations under the network connectivity method 200 may be performed simultaneously or partially simultaneously.

Fig. 3A is a diagram illustrating the network device 100 of fig. 1 having a number of antennas greater than or equal to a predetermined value according to some embodiments of the disclosure. Fig. 3B is a flowchart depicting operation S240 of fig. 2 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 1, the memory circuit 118 stores a preset numerical value NC. In some embodiments, the predetermined value NC is a lower limit of the number of antennas that can satisfy the throughput required for data transmission on a single link (which can satisfy upper layer applications). In the example of fig. 3A, the network device 100 includes 4 antennas 112, and the default value NC is 2. Since the number of antennas of the network device 100 is equal to twice the preset value NC, the number of antennas representing the network device 100 can satisfy the requirements of the AP-link and the TDLS-link simultaneously. Thus, the processor circuit 116 may directly execute the DBCC mode (i.e., step S31 of fig. 3B). As such, the processor circuit 116 may allocate NC antennas 112 (2 in this example) to the AP-link and NC antennas 112 (2 in this example) to the TDLS-link, which is on the extension channel 102.

As shown in fig. 3A, in the initial condition (i.e., before performing operation S240), the network device 100 is connected to the wireless access point 100A (i.e., AP-link) and the device 100B (i.e., TDLS-link) through the same 2 antennas 112, wherein both the AP-link and the TDLS-link are on the fundamental channel 101. After performing operation S240, the network device 100 operates in the DBCC mode. The processor circuit 116 may control 1 transceiver circuit 110 and its corresponding 2 antennas 112 to be connected to the wireless access point 100A (i.e., AP-link), and control another 1 transceiver circuit 110 and its corresponding 2 antennas 112 to be connected to the device 100B (i.e., TDLS-link), where AP-link is on the base channel 101 and TDLS-link is on the extension channel 102. Therefore, the channel switching times can be reduced and/or the channel switching synchronism can be improved, so that the reduction of the transmission efficiency can be avoided.

Fig. 4A is a diagram illustrating the network device 100 of fig. 1 having a number of antennas smaller than a predetermined number according to some embodiments of the disclosure. Fig. 4B is a flowchart depicting operation S240 of fig. 2 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In the example of fig. 4A, the network device 100 includes 2 antennas 112. In initial operation, the network device 100 is simultaneously connected to the wireless access point 100A (i.e., AP-link) and the device 100B (i.e., TDLS-link) via the 2 antennas 112 via the fundamental channel 101. In this example, the number of antennas of the network device 100 is less than twice the preset value NC, which means that the number of antennas of the network device 100 cannot satisfy the requirements of the AP-link and the TDLS-link simultaneously. Thus, the processor circuit 116 can perform the steps of fig. 4B to identify whether to execute the DBCC mode or the MCC mode according to the system parameters. Referring to FIG. 4B, operation S240 includes a plurality of steps S41-S43. In step S41, one of the DBCC mode and the MCC mode is executed according to the system parameters, the first threshold and the second threshold. In step S42, the DBCC mode is executed. In step S43, the MCC mode is executed.

Fig. 4C is a flowchart depicting step S41 in fig. 4B according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, step S41 includes multiple sub-steps S41-1-S41-3. In sub-step S41-1, it is determined whether the fundamental channel and the extension channel are located in different frequency bands according to the system parameters. If the fundamental channel and the extension channel are located in different frequency bands, the sub-step S41-2 is performed. In some embodiments, the basic channel and the extended channel are located in different frequency bands, including (but not limited to) the basic channel 101 being located in the radio frequency range of 2.4GHz, and the extended channel 102 being located in the radio frequency range of 5GHz, or the basic channel 101 and the extended channel 102 being located in different frequency bands in the radio frequency range of 5 GHz. Alternatively, if the fundamental channel and the extension channel are located in the same frequency band, step S43 of fig. 4B is executed. In sub-step S41-2, it is determined whether the requirement of the data delay time of the extension channel is greater than or equal to the second threshold. If the data delay time requirement is greater than or equal to the second threshold, step S42 of fig. 4A is executed. Alternatively, if the data delay time requirement is less than the second threshold, the sub-step S41-3 is performed. In sub-step S41-3, a ratio is calculated according to the throughput of the tunneled direct link setup link and the throughput of the wireless access point link, and it is determined whether the ratio is less than or equal to a third threshold. If the ratio is smaller than or equal to the third threshold, step S42 in fig. 4B is executed. Alternatively, if the ratio is greater than the third threshold, step S43 in fig. 4B is executed.

For example, the memory circuit 118 stores a system parameter Δ and a system parameter Ω. According to the result of the ACS algorithm (i.e., the result of operation S220 in fig. 2), if the frequency band of the fundamental channel 101 is different from the frequency band of the extension channel 102, the processor circuit 116 may set the system parameter Δ to a logic value of 1. Conversely, if the frequency band of the fundamental channel 101 is the same as the frequency band of the extended channel 102, the processor circuit 116 may set the system parameter Δ to a logic value of 0. In other words, the system parameter Δ may indicate whether the frequency band of the fundamental channel 101 is the same as the frequency band of the extension channel 102. The processor circuit 116 may perform sub-step S41-1 based on the system parameter Δ.

As mentioned above, the memory circuit 118 stores the threshold TH2, which is used to determine whether the requirement of the data delay time of the extended channel 102 is too high. Depending on the result of the ACS algorithm (i.e., the result of operation S220 in fig. 2) and/or the current data transmission requirement, the processor circuit 116 may obtain the data delay requirement of the extended channel 102. If the data delay time requirement is greater than or equal to the threshold TH2, the processor circuit 116 may set the system parameter Ω to logic value 1. Alternatively, if the data delay time requirement is less than the second threshold, the processor circuit 116 may set the system parameter Ω to a logic value of 0. In other words, the system parameter Ω may be used to indicate whether the requirement of the data delay time of the extension channel 102 is too high, and the processor circuit 116 may perform the sub-step S41-2 according to the system parameter Ω.

When both the system parameter Δ and the system parameter Ω are logic values 1, it means that the frequency band of the fundamental channel 101 is different from the frequency band of the extended channel 102 and the requirement of data delay time is high. Under this condition, as shown in FIG. 4A, the processor circuit 116 may execute the DBCC mode (i.e., step S42). In the DBCC mode, the processor circuit 116 can control 1 transceiver circuit 110 and 1 antenna 112 to connect to the wireless access point 100A (i.e., AP-link) via the basic channel 101 for transmitting and receiving data. Meanwhile, the processor circuit 116 may control another 1 of the transceiver circuits 110 and another 1 of the antennas 112 to be wired to the apparatus 100B (i.e., TDLS-link) via the extension channel 102 for transceiving data. Therefore, the channel switching times can be reduced and/or the channel switching synchronism can be improved, so that the reduction of the transmission efficiency can be avoided.

When the system parameter Δ is a logic value 1 and the system parameter Ω is a logic value 0, the frequency band representing the fundamental channel 101 is different from the frequency band of the extension channel 102 and the requirement of data delay time is low. The processor circuit 116 may calculate the ratio RA (shown in fig. 1) according to the TDLS link throughput TPT and the AP link throughput TPA, and determine whether the ratio RA is less than or equal to the threshold TH 3. In some embodiments, the ratio RA is a ratio between a maximum one of the TDLS link throughput TPT and the AP link throughput TPA and a sum of the TDLS link throughput TPT and the AP link throughput TPA (i.e., RA ═ max (TPT, TPA)/(TPT + TPA)). If the ratio RA is less than or equal to the threshold TH3, which indicates that the ratio of the current single-link throughput to the total throughput is not high, the processor circuit 116 may execute the DBCC mode (i.e., step S42) to reduce the number of channel switching to avoid the performance degradation. In some embodiments, the third threshold TH3 may be, but is not limited to, 0.7.

Alternatively, if the system parameter Δ is logic 0 or the ratio RA is greater than the threshold TH3, the processor circuit 116 can execute the MCC mode. Under this condition, as shown in fig. 4A, the processor circuit 116 may execute the MCC mode (i.e., step S43) to enable the AP-link or the TDLS-link to transmit/receive data using all of the antennas 112 during different periods. For example, in the MCC mode, the processor circuit 116 controls all of the transceiver circuits 110 to connect to the wireless access point 100A (i.e., AP-link) via all of the antennas 112 and the basic channel 101 to transmit and receive data during the period P1. During the next period P2, the processor circuit 116 controls all of the transceiver circuits 110 to be connected to the apparatus 100B (i.e., TDSL-link) via all of the antennas 112 and the extension channels 102 for transceiving data. Thus, the transmission performance of the single link in the corresponding period can be improved.

In some embodiments, the processor circuit 116 may further determine the period P1 and the period P2 according to the TDLS link throughput TPT and the AP link throughput TPA. For example, if the TDLS link throughput TPT is greater than the AP link throughput TPA, the processor circuit 116 may set the period P2 to be longer than the period P1 to satisfy the TDLS link throughput TPT.

The above operation of deciding to perform one of the DBCC mode or the MCC mode is used for example and the disclosure is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the processor circuit 116 may determine to execute one of the DBCC mode and the MCC mode according to the TDLS link throughput TPT, the AP link throughput TPA, the system parameter Δ, the system parameter Ω, at least one of the thresholds TH 2-TH 3, and/or other operation information. In the above embodiments, the preset value NC is 2, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. The range of various values of rf, the number of antennas and the predetermined value NC are all within the scope of the present disclosure.

In summary, the network device and the network connection method in some embodiments of the present disclosure can effectively improve the channel switching transient process and the synchronization between the TDLS link and the AP link, so as to improve the data transmission performance.

Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the embodiments are not intended to limit the present disclosure, and those skilled in the art can make variations on the technical features of the present disclosure according to the explicit or implicit contents of the present disclosure, and all such variations may fall within the scope of patent protection sought by the present disclosure, in other words, the scope of patent protection of the present disclosure should be subject to the claims of the present specification.

Claims (10)

1. A network device, comprising:

a processor circuit; and

a plurality of transceiver circuits configured to connect to a wireless access point via a fundamental channel based on a control of the processor circuit, wherein the wireless access point is further configured to connect to a first device, and the processor circuit is further configured to:

determining whether a tunnel direct link setup link throughput on the basic channel is greater than or equal to a first threshold;

if the tunnel direct link setup link throughput is greater than or equal to the first threshold, executing an automatic channel selection algorithm to determine whether to establish an extended channel; and

if the extended channel is determined to be established, one of a dual-frequency parallel mode and a multi-channel parallel mode is executed according to the number of antennas corresponding to the transceiver circuits so as to control at least one of the transceiver circuits to be connected to the first device through the extended channel.

2. The network device of claim 1, wherein the processor circuit is configured to directly execute the dual frequency parallel mode if the number of antennas is greater than or equal to twice a predetermined number.

3. The network device of claim 1, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to determine to perform the one of the dual-band parallel mode and the multi-channel parallel mode according to a plurality of system parameters if the number of antennas is less than twice a predetermined number.

4. The network device of claim 3, wherein the processor circuit is configured to execute the dual frequency parallel mode if the plurality of system parameters indicate that the fundamental channel and the extended channel are located in different frequency bands and if a data delay requirement corresponding to the extended channel is greater than or equal to a second threshold.

5. The network device according to claim 3, wherein if said plurality of system parameters indicate that said fundamental channel and said extended channel are located in different frequency bands, and if a data delay time requirement corresponding to said extended channel is less than a second threshold, said processor circuit is configured to calculate a ratio based on said tunneled direct link setup link throughput and a wireless access point link throughput, and to perform said dual frequency parallel mode when said ratio is less than or equal to a third threshold.

6. The network device of claim 5, wherein the processor circuit is configured to perform the multi-channel parallel mode if the ratio is greater than the third threshold or if the fundamental channel and the extended channel are in the same frequency band.

7. The network device according to claim 5, wherein said ratio is a ratio between a maximum one of said tunneled direct link setup link throughput and said wireless access point link throughput and a sum of said tunneled direct link setup link throughput and said wireless access point link throughput.

8. The network device of claim 1, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to set a first timer if the tunneled direct link setup link throughput is less than the first threshold, and to reconfirm whether the tunneled direct link setup link throughput is greater than or equal to the first threshold when the first timer expires.

9. The network device of claim 1, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to set a second timer after the plurality of transceiver circuits are connected to the first device via the extension channel, and to reconfirm whether the tunneled direct link setup link throughput is greater than or equal to the first threshold when the second timer expires.

10. A network connection method, comprising:

connecting to a wireless access point via a basic channel, and determining whether a tunneled direct link setup link throughput on the basic channel is greater than or equal to a first threshold, wherein the wireless access point is further connected to a first device;

if the tunnel direct link setup link throughput is greater than or equal to the first threshold, executing an automatic channel selection algorithm to determine whether to establish an extended channel; and

if the extended channel is determined to be established, one of a dual-band parallel mode and a multi-channel parallel mode is executed according to the number of antennas so as to connect to the first device through the extended channel.

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