KR101542012B1 - Apparatus and Method for Wi-Fi P2P network formation in Vehicular environment - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for determining a group owner suitable for vehicle environments which enables to reduce a formation time for suitably operating for the vehicle environments that change at high speed, when a Wi-Fi P2P group is formed by equipping a dual interface that Wi-Fi direct communications are possible between two Wi-Fis in each device. According to the present invention, the apparatus comprises: a user interface unit which is an input means for receiving a desired service from a user among searched services; a P2P client unit for repeatedly performing a searching process and a listening process by using one fixed channel, and searching a peripheral group owner device by operating the channel as a P2P client; a P2P group owner unit for performing a listening process which selects one fixed listening channel previously agreed with the P2P client unit; and a Wi-Fi direct control unit for connecting the P2P group owner unit of a second device and the P2P client unit of a first device, and connecting the P2P group owner unit of the first device and the P2P client unit of a third device in order to form Wi-Fi direct networks in a tree structure without a cycle.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for forming a Wi-Fi network in a vehicle environment,

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for forming a Wi-Fi network in a vehicle environment. More particularly, the present invention relates to a dual interface capable of performing two Wi-Fi direct communications with each device, The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for determining a group owner suitable for a vehicle environment by reducing formation time so as to operate properly in a vehicle environment.

Conventionally, the focus is on basic devices and processes for forming a peer group using WiFi Direct. Wi-Fi Direct is a communication technology that allows existing wireless LAN technology to directly connect and transmit data between devices without the need for an AP beyond the limitations of networking based on an access point (AP).

As shown in FIG. 1, the basic connection method of Wi-Fi direct is a method of configuring the Wi-Fi direct network 100 by connecting the two devices 110 and 120 one-to-one. For example, you can connect your smartphone, smartphone, laptop and mouse, tablet PC and printer directly to WiFi direct to connect to the Internet and network. In addition, you can connect your digital camera, MP3 player, A network can also be configured with one or more devices such as a TV. As a result, you can easily transfer photos, music, and videos from your smartphone to other smartphones, print documents and photos stored on your tablet PC straight away, synchronize contacts between your PC and smartphone, It can be used for applications.

Here is how to connect devices based on WiFi direct method. Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, in a device discovery process, the first device 110 and the second device 120 are devices that support Wi-Fi direct, respectively, in order to form a Wi- A search process is performed to sequentially search all the social channels 1, 6 and 11 in the vicinity, and then one random channel among the found social channels is randomly selected, Is repeatedly performed.

As shown in FIG. 2B, when the searching process and the listening process are encountered in the same channel, the corresponding channel is detected to form the first device 110 and the second device 120 as a group. On the other hand, when the searching process and the listening process are not encountered in the same channel, the first device 110 and the second device 120 repeat the searching process and the listening process.

As described above, the basic device discovery process can be divided into a listener section and a search section. The listening section waits for another device in a predetermined channel, and the search section includes channels 1, 6, and 11 To search for another device.

Thereafter, a negotiation process is performed to determine which one of the first device 110 and the second device 120 is a group owner, and finally a Wi-Fi peer group session is created, Will be connected to the group owner.

However, the process of detecting a channel in which a searching process and a listening process are encountered while repeating the Listen section and the Search section is repeatedly performed, (1, 6, 11) in the environment where the change of the social channels (1, 6, 11) is small. Therefore, in a vehicle environment changing at a high speed, each operation for forming such a Wi-Fi coverage group continuously changes at a high speed, so that it is difficult to detect a corresponding channel in which a searching process and a listening process are encountered, This has a problem in determining an appropriate group owner.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2013-0019848: Apparatus and method for determining group owner in setting up Wi-Fi direct connection

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a dual interface capable of performing two WiFi direct communication in each device, It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for determining a group owner suitable for a vehicle environment by making it possible to reduce the formation time for proper operation.

Other objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for forming a Wi-Fi network in a vehicle environment, the apparatus comprising: a user interface unit as input means for receiving a desired service from a user among discovered services; A P2P client unit that repeats a search process and a listener process using a channel and searches for a neighboring group owner device by operating as a P2P client and a fixed listening A P2P group owner unit for performing a listening process by selecting a channel of the first device and a P2P client unit of the first device by connecting the P2P group owner unit of the first device and the P2P client unit of the first device, The P2P client part is connected to form a WiFi direct network without a cycle tree. And a pie direct control unit.

Preferably, the Wi-Fi direct control unit connects the P2P client unit of the first device attached to the own vehicle with the P2P group owner unit 240 of the second device attached to the preceding vehicle based on the running direction of the vehicle, The P2P client unit 230 of the third device attached to the vehicle existing behind the P2P group owner unit 240 of the first device is connected.

Preferably, the Wi-Fi direct control unit continuously monitors the position of the P2P group owner and regroups the network when moving backward.

Preferably, the Wi-Fi direct control unit controls the position, the direction, the link quality, the number of P2P clients, the distance between the devices, the RSSI, the load of the device, And a device that forms a WiFi direct network of a tree structure based on the calculated score is selected based on the calculated score.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of forming a Wi-Fi network in a vehicle environment, the method comprising: (A) providing a P2P client unit and a P2P client unit in a first device having a dual interface configured at the same time, Searching for a group owner device of a peripheral device by repeating a search process and a listener process using a single fixed channel through a P2P client and operating as a P2P client; A step of selecting a fixed listener channel with one channel previously negotiated by the P2P group owner and performing a listening process; and (C) a step of searching for a P2P client unit and a P2P group owner unit of the first device Search) and a listening process (Listen) so that at least one or more devices A step of searching a P2P client unit and a P2P group owner of at least one or more devices; (D) calculating a score between the searched devices, Connecting the P2P client part of the first device and the P2P group owner part of the third device to each other to form a group; (E) if the relative positions of the devices formed in the group are changed, And repeatedly re-forming the network.

Preferably, the step (D) comprises the steps of: connecting a P2P group owner of a device attached to a preceding vehicle with a P2P client unit of the first device based on a running direction of the vehicle; And connecting the peer-to-peer client unit of the device attached to the following vehicle to form a tree-structured Wi-Fi direct network without a cycle.

Preferably, the step (D) includes a step of calculating a position, a direction, a link quality, a number of P2P clients, a distance between devices, a signal intensity RSSI, And the speed is calculated based on at least one of the speeds.

Preferably, in the step (E), when the third device is moving backward, the second device moves forward, or the third device moves forward, And when the distance between the device and the second device is large, the network is reorganized.

As described above, an apparatus and method for forming a Wi-Fi network in a vehicle environment according to the present invention includes a dual interface capable of performing two WiFi Direct communications in each device, Search process time is reduced to reduce the group formation time through the negotiation process, so that it is possible to determine an appropriate group owner even in a vehicle environment changing at a high speed.

Further, the effects obtained by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description. There will be.

1 is a block diagram showing a basic connection method of a general Wi-Fi direct
2A and 2B are diagrams for explaining a method of connecting devices based on the Wi-Fi direct method of FIG. 1
3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an apparatus having a dual interface capable of two WiFi direct communication in a vehicle environment according to an embodiment of the present invention
Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a multi-hop communication using an apparatus forming a Wi-Fi network in the vehicle environment of Fig. 3
5 is a flowchart for explaining a method of forming a Wi-Fi network in a vehicle environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a method of connecting devices based on the Wi-Fi direct method of FIG. 5

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Preferred embodiments of an apparatus and method for forming a Wi-Fi network in a vehicle environment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as 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 invention to those skilled in the art. It is provided to let you know. Therefore, the embodiments described in the present specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are merely the most preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to represent all of the technical ideas of the present invention. Therefore, various equivalents It should be understood that water and variations may be present.

3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an apparatus having a dual interface capable of two WiFi direct communication in a vehicle environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3, the apparatus for forming a Wi-Fi network of the present invention includes a user interface unit 210, a WiFi direct control unit 220, a P2P client unit 230, a P2P group owner (240). Here, the device corresponds to devices supporting Wi-Fi direct such as a smart phone, a mobile phone, a digital camera, an MP3 player, a game machine, a TV, a display device, a printer, a beam projector,

The user interface 210 is an input means for receiving a desired service from the user among the searched services.

In addition, the P2P client unit 230 performs a search process and a listener process repeatedly using a fixed channel, and operates as a P2P client to search for neighboring group owner devices.

In addition, the P2P group owner unit 240 performs a listening process for selecting a fixed listen channel for a channel previously negotiated with the P2P client unit.

4, the Wi-Fi direct control unit 220 controls the P2P group owner 240 of the device attached to the preceding vehicle on the basis of the running direction of the vehicle and the P2P group owner 240 of the device attached to the own vehicle The client unit 230 and the P2P client unit 230 of the device attached to the vehicle existing behind the P2P group owner unit 240 of the own device are connected to constitute a WiFi direct network of a tree structure without a cycle can do.

On the other hand, the Wi-Fi direct control unit 220 needs a method of reorganizing the network when it moves backward while monitoring the position of the P2P group owner unit 240 on the basis of the nature of the network having a relatively variable position.

At this time, if there are many vehicles that can be selected in front of the user, the efficiency of the network is determined according to which vehicle is selected. As a method for maintaining the connectivity of the network for a long time, when selecting the P2P group owner unit 240 of the device, there may be a position, direction, link quality, number of P2P clients, etc. have.

As one example of a method of selecting the P2P group owner part 240 of the device using such consideration, a method of calculating a score is used. This is a method for selecting the most appropriate one through a method of adding a value for each criterion, and a formula for selecting a score can be expressed as shown in Equation 1 below.

As shown in Equation (1), a score is calculated by applying a distance (distance) between devices, a signal strength (RSSI), a load of a corresponding device, and a weight w to each element. Meanwhile, the factors applied in calculating the score may be additionally applied in addition to the direction, speed, and relative speed.

The operation of the apparatus for forming a Wi-Fi network in a vehicle environment according to the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference numerals in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 denote the same members performing the same function.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of forming a Wi-Fi network in a vehicle environment according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5, a device having a dual interface in which a P2P client unit 230 and a P2P group owner unit 240 are configured at the same time is used to search (search) using a single fixed channel through the P2P client unit 230, ) And a listener process are repeatedly performed, and a group owner device of a peripheral device is searched by operating as a P2P client (S10).

At the same time, a listening process of selecting a fixed listener channel previously negotiated with the P2P client unit is performed through the P2P group owner unit (S20).

6, a search process and a listener process are performed in the P2P client unit 230 and the P2P group owner unit 240 of the first device 110 through the WiFi direct control unit 220, ) To search the P2P client unit of at least one or more devices and the P2P group owner unit 240 of at least one or more devices in which the searching process and the listening process are encountered in the same channel (S30). As the searching process and the listening process of the first device 110 are performed in the same channel, the search time required to search and wait for only a predetermined channel can be saved.

The score of the searched devices is calculated and the P2P group owner unit 240 of the first device 110 and the P2P client unit 230 of the second device 120 are connected in descending order of the score, The P2P client unit 230 of the device 110 and the P2P group owner unit 240 of the third device are interconnected to form a group (S50). As described above, since each device has a dual interface capable of performing two WiFi Direct communication with the P2P client unit 230 and the P2P group owner unit 240, the listener process and the search process time Can reduce the group formation time through the negotiation process.

4, the P2P group owner 240 of the device attached to the preceding vehicle on the basis of the running direction of the vehicle, The P2P client unit 230 of the device attached to the vehicle and the P2P client unit 230 of the device attached to the vehicle behind the P2P group owner unit 240 of the device are connected to each other, Structure WiFi direct network can be configured. For reference, the second device 120 is a device attached to a vehicle existing behind the first device 110, and the third device is an example of a device attached to a vehicle existing in front of the first device 110 .

In addition, the score is calculated as a method of calculating a score, which is one example of a method for selecting a device for forming a group, using Equation 1 described above, and a detailed description thereof is described. It is omitted.

On the other hand, the first device 110 continuously monitors the positions of the P2P group owner unit 240 and the P2P client unit 230 due to the characteristics of the variable network according to the vehicle environment, A method is required to reorganize the network when the third device moves backward or when the second device 120 moves ahead of itself or when the distance between the third device and the second device 120 becomes long. Do.

Accordingly, if the location of the first device 110 and the partner device is changed (S60), the search is performed again from the step S30 of searching for a device to be grouped through the searching process and the listening process of the first device 110 S60).

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the true scope of the present invention should be determined by the technical idea of the appended claims.

Claims (8)

A user interface unit as input means for receiving a desired service from the user among the searched services,
A P2P client unit that performs a search process and a listener process repeatedly using one fixed channel and searches for a neighboring group owner device by operating as a P2P client;
A P2P group owner unit performing a listening process for selecting one fixed listener channel previously negotiated with the P2P client unit,
A P2P group owner part of the second device and a P2P client part of the first device are connected to each other and a P2P client part of the third device is connected to the P2P group owner part of the first device to form a Wi- And a Wi-Fi direct control unit for controlling the Wi-Fi network. The method of claim 1, wherein the Wi-Fi direct control unit
The P2P group owner 240 of the second device attached to the preceding vehicle on the basis of the running direction of the vehicle is connected to the P2P client unit of the first device attached to the own vehicle, (240) and a P2P client unit (230) of a third device attached to a vehicle that is present behind. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the WiFi direct control unit continuously monitors the position of the P2P group owner and reorganizes the network when moving backward from the WiFi direct control unit. The method according to claim 1,
The Wi-Fi direct control unit may control the position of the vehicle, the direction, the link quality, the number of P2P clients, the distance between the devices, the RSSI, the load of the device, Calculating a score based on at least one of the scores and selecting a device forming a WiFi direct network of a tree structure based on the calculated score. (A) Repeating a search process and a listener process using a single channel fixed through the P2P client unit in a first device having a dual interface in which a P2P client unit and a P2P group owner unit are configured at the same time, Operating as a P2P client to search for a group owner device of a peripheral device,
(B) repeatedly performing a listening process of selecting a fixed listen channel previously negotiated with the P2P client unit through the P2P group owner at the same time as the step (A)
(C) a P2P client unit of the first device and a P2P client unit of the at least one device in which a search process and a listening process are encountered in the same channel by performing a search process and a listener process of the P2P group owner unit, Retrieving a P2P group owner of at least one device;
(D) calculating a score between the searched devices, connecting the P2P group owner part of the first device and the P2P client part of the second device in descending order of the score, and concurrently connecting the P2P client part of the first device and the P2P client part of the third device Connecting the group owner parts to each other to form a group,
(E) if the relative positions of the devices formed in the group are changed, repeating the process to re-form the network. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein step (D)
Connecting a P2P group owner part of a device attached to a preceding vehicle to a P2P client part of a first device based on a running direction of the vehicle,
Connecting a P2P client part of a first device to a P2P client part of a device attached to a vehicle existing behind the first device to form a WiFi direct network of a tree structure without a cycle, ≪ / RTI > 6. The method of claim 5, wherein step (D)
Based on at least one of a vehicle position, a direction, a link quality, a number of P2P clients, a distance between devices, RSSI, a load of the device, And calculating a score for the WiFi network in the vehicle environment. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein step (E)
When the third device moves backward beyond itself or when the second device moves forward than itself or when the distance between the third device and the second device Wherein the network is reorganized when the network is out of service.

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