WO2015131624A1

WO2015131624A1 - Method and device for controlling wireless network connection

Info

Publication number: WO2015131624A1
Application number: PCT/CN2014/094551
Authority: WO
Inventors: 张磊; 何祥; 阙石峰
Original assignee: 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Priority date: 2014-09-18
Filing date: 2014-12-22
Publication date: 2015-09-11
Also published as: CN105491645A

Abstract

A method and device for controlling a wireless network connection. The method comprises: acquiring, by a manager workstation (STA), electric quantity information and/or network condition information about an access point (AP); and controlling, by the manager STA, a connection between the AP and other network devices according to the electric quantity information and/or the network condition information.

Description

Method and device for controlling wireless network connection

Technical field

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

Background technique

With the rapid development of communication technologies, mobile Internet and related terminal products, people are increasingly using mobile terminals such as smart phones to implement functions such as social, multimedia entertainment, and office services other than basic communication. Gradually, the functions of smart phones And the use of the scene is also expanding in the direction of diversification, and one of the important business applications is that the mobile phone acts as an Access Point (Access Point) to enable WiFi (WIreless-Fidelity) hotspots. Other mobile phones are connected to this hotspot as STA (Station).

At present, due to the use of 4G networks, the speed of data networks is getting faster, especially the popularity of mobile phone network cards, and the traffic packages are cheaper. The use of mobile phones to open hotspots for other devices is increasingly used in homes, offices, and travel. It is easy to use in many scenes such as parties. In many cases, multiple STAs are connected to the same AP at the same time. However, since the data connection and the WiFi hotspot are relatively power-hungry, the AP's battery life will be greatly reduced, and the user experience is poor.

Summary of the invention

The embodiment of the invention provides a method and a device for controlling a wireless network connection, which are used to solve the problem that the mobile terminal as an AP in the related art has large power consumption, short battery life and poor user experience.

In one aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for controlling a wireless network connection, including: an administrator workstation STA acquiring power information and/or network status information of an access point AP; and the administrator STA according to the power information and/or Or the network status information, controlling connection of the AP to other network devices.

Optionally, before the administrator workstation STA obtains the power information and/or the network status information of the access point AP, the method further includes: the administrator workstation STA acquiring the remote management authority from the AP.

Optionally, the controlling, by the administrator STA, the connection between the AP and other network devices according to the power information and/or the network status information, including: the remaining power of the AP is lower than a preset ratio or the If the network signal strength of the AP is less than a preset threshold, the administrator STA limits at least one of the following parameters: the number of network devices connected to the AP, the network speed of each of the network devices, and each The time when the network device is connected to the AP.

Optionally, the method for limiting the parameter includes: the administrator STA prompting a user for an optional range of the parameter; the administrator STA receiving the user's selection instruction for the parameter; The STA transmits a parameter restriction message to the AP according to the selection instruction.

On the other hand, the embodiment of the present invention further provides a method for controlling a wireless network connection, including: the access point AP sends the power information and/or network status information of the AP to the administrator STA; the AP accepts the management. The STA controls the connection state between the AP and other network devices.

Optionally, before the access point AP sends the power information and/or the network status information of the AP to the administrator STA, the method further includes: the AP granting the remote management rights to the administrator STA.

Optionally, the controlling, by the AP, the connection status between the AP and another network device by the administrator STA includes: receiving, by the AP, a parameter restriction message sent by the administrator STA; The parameter limit message controls its own connection to other network devices.

Optionally, the parameter restriction message includes limiting at least one of: a number of network devices connected to the AP, a network speed of each of the network devices, and each of the network devices is connected to the AP time.

On the other hand, the embodiment of the present invention further provides an apparatus for controlling a wireless network connection, comprising: an acquiring unit, configured to acquire power information and/or network status information of the access point AP; and a control unit, And being configured to control the connection of the AP to other network devices according to the power quantity information and/or the network status information acquired by the acquiring unit.

In another aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus for controlling a wireless network connection, including: a sending unit, configured to send power information and/or network status information of an AP to an administrator STA; and an accepting unit configured to accept the The administrator STA controls the connection state between the AP and other network devices.

Embodiments of the present invention also provide a computer program that, when executed by an administrator STA, causes the administrator STA to perform the method described above.

Embodiments of the present invention also provide a computer program that, when executed by an administrator AP, causes the administrator STA to perform the method described above.

Embodiments of the present invention also provide a computer readable storage medium storing the above computer program.

A method for controlling a wireless network connection provided by an embodiment of the present invention, where an administrator STA exists in a plurality of workstations connected to an AP, and the administrator STA can obtain power information and/or network status information of the access point AP, and according to The power information and/or the network status information controls a connection between the AP and other network devices, so that when the remaining power of the AP is insufficient or the network status is not good, the AP and the AP can be controlled without performing separate operations on the AP. The connection of other network devices can save the huge amount of power consumed by the screen when the user operates the AP, and can also reduce the power consumption of the AP in the data connection by controlling the connection state of the AP with other network devices, thereby effectively extending the battery life. , greatly improving the user experience.

BRIEF abstract

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method for controlling a wireless network connection according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is another flowchart of a method for controlling a wireless network connection according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a schematic diagram of system connection for applying the method for controlling a wireless network connection according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a schematic structural diagram of an AP terminal in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a detailed flowchart of a method for controlling a wireless network connection according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

6 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for controlling a wireless network connection according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is another schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for controlling a wireless network connection according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Preferred embodiment of the invention

As shown in FIG. 1, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for controlling a wireless network connection, including:

S11. The administrator workstation STA obtains the power information and/or network status information of the access point AP.

S12. The administrator STA controls a connection between the AP and other network devices according to the power information and/or the network status information.

A method for controlling a wireless network connection provided by an embodiment of the present invention, where an administrator STA exists in a plurality of workstations connected to an AP, and the administrator STA can obtain power information and/or network status information of the access point AP, and according to The power information and/or the network status information controls a connection between the AP and other network devices, so that when the remaining power of the AP is insufficient or the network status is not good, the AP can be controlled without performing a separate operation on the AP. The connection with other network devices can save the huge amount of power consumed by the screen when the user operates the AP, and can also reduce the power consumption of the AP in the data connection by controlling the connection state of the AP with other network devices, thereby effectively extending the battery life. Time has greatly improved the user experience.

In this embodiment, a mobile terminal serves as a wireless connection hotspot, that is, an access point AP, and provides wireless network connection services for other multiple wireless terminals. Optionally, the mobile terminal that can function as an AP may include a smart phone, a tablet, and the like. In order to reduce the power consumption of other aspects of the AP, so that it can dedicate more energy to the network connection service, the AP can serve the wireless terminal. One of the administrators is the administrator STA. The administrator STA can obtain the remote administrator rights from the AP. After obtaining the permission, the administrator STA can obtain the power information and/or network status information of the AP and according to the information. Changes control the state of the connection between the AP and other network devices. The determination of the administrator STA may be specified by the AP through the WLAN communication, or may be manually applied by the ordinary STA, or may be preset in the administrator STA, and the like, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present invention. .

Optionally, in step S11, the administrator STA may obtain power information and/or network status information about the AP by reading a corresponding database. The power information may include one or more of the following: how many milliamperes remain, the percentage of the total power, the average power consumption per hour, the maximum speed that can be worked according to the current consumption speed, etc.; The information may include: network signal strength, data transmission speed, and the like.

After the administrator STA obtains the power information and/or the network status information of the AP, in step S12, the connection between the AP and other network devices may be controlled according to the power information and/or the network status information. The specific control methods are various, but the core is to use limited AP network resources according to the actual needs of users when the AP power is low or the current network condition is not good, resulting in the increase of power consumption. The necessary network connection.

For example, in an embodiment of the present invention, step S12 may specifically include: in a case where the remaining power of the AP is lower than a preset ratio or the network signal strength of the AP is less than a preset threshold, the administrator The STA limits at least one of the following parameters: the number of network devices connected to the AP, the network speed of each of the network devices, and the time each of the network devices is connected to the AP.

For example, if there are five network devices connected to the AP, the preset ratio of the remaining power is 20%. If the administrator STA obtains the remaining power of the current AP as 15%, less than 20%, the administrator STA starts to limit. The number of network devices connected to the AP, such as disconnecting two network devices from the AP, so that the number of network devices connected to the AP at the same time is up to three. Such as If the remaining power drops below 10%, the administrator STA can also limit the network speed (such as less than 500K bit/s) and the corresponding connection time (such as 10 minutes) connected to the AP. Optionally, the administrator STA can also control multiple network devices to be connected to the AP in turn.

Understandably, in the case of poor network conditions, the device often needs to repeatedly try a data connection repeatedly, so the power consumption will increase dramatically. In order to avoid the above situation, in some embodiments of the present invention, similar control can be performed when the administrator STA obtains from the AP that the current network communication quality is not good (for example, when the signal strength is lower than 70% of the conventional value). Or, when the network status continues to drop, you can also control the AP to shut down the data connection and stop the hotspot service.

It should be noted that, in the foregoing embodiment, the administrator STA may automatically limit and adjust the foregoing parameters according to the information acquired by the administrator STA, thereby implementing automatic control of the AP. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments of the present invention, the administrator STA may also receive some operation instructions of the user, thereby limiting the parameters according to the user's will. Optional, can be achieved by the following steps:

The administrator STA prompts the user for an optional range of the parameters;

The administrator STA receives the user's selection instruction for the parameter;

The administrator STA sends a parameter restriction message to the AP according to the selection instruction.

Correspondingly, as shown in FIG. 2, an embodiment of the present invention further provides a method for controlling a wireless network connection, including:

S21. The access point AP sends the power information and/or network status information of the AP to the administrator STA.

S22. The AP accepts control of a connection state between the AP and other network devices by the administrator STA.

The method for controlling a wireless network connection provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the access point AP can send its own power information and/or network status information to the administrator STA, and accept the administrator STA pair. Controlling the connection state between the AP and other network devices, so that when the remaining power of the AP is insufficient or the network status is not good, the AP can be controlled to connect with other network devices without performing separate operations on the AP, thereby saving When the user operates the AP, the screen consumes a large amount of power, and by controlling the connection state of the AP with other network devices, the power consumption of the AP in the data connection can be reduced, thereby effectively extending the battery life and greatly improving the user experience.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, a mobile terminal can serve as a wireless connection hotspot, that is, an access point AP, to provide wireless network connection services for other multiple wireless terminals. In order to reduce the power consumption of other aspects of the AP, so that more energy can be dedicated to providing network connection services, one of the wireless terminals served by the AP can be designated as an administrator STA, and the administrator STA can be from the AP. Obtain the remote administrator authority. After obtaining the permission, the administrator STA can obtain the power information and/or network status information of the AP and adjust the connection status between the AP and other network devices according to the change of the information. control. The determination of the administrator STA may be specified by the AP through the WLAN communication, or may be manually applied by the ordinary STA, or may be preset in the administrator STA, and the like, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present invention. . For example, in an embodiment of the present invention, before the access point AP sends the power information and/or network status information of the AP to the administrator STA, the AP may further include: the AP grants the remote management authority to the administrator STA to enable Both the AP and the administrator STA confirm the identity.

The AP may establish a corresponding database to record its own power information and/or network status information, wherein the power information may include one or more of the following: how many milliamperes remain, the percentage of the total power, and the average power consumption per hour. Quantity, according to the current consumption speed, how long can work at most, etc.; network status information can include: network signal strength, data transmission speed, and the like. The administrator STA can obtain power information and/or network status information about the AP by reading the database.

In step S22, the AP may accept control of the connection state between the AP and other network devices by the administrator STA. The specific control methods are various, but the core is that when the AP power is low or the current network condition is not good, the power consumption is increased, and the use is limited according to the actual needs of the user. AP network resources, retain the necessary network connections, and disconnect unnecessary network connections. For the detailed control method of the administrator STA, refer to the corresponding part of the foregoing embodiment, and details are not described herein again.

Specifically, the AP accepts that the administrator STA controls the connection state between the AP and other network devices by using the following steps:

Receiving, by the AP, a parameter restriction message sent by the administrator STA;

The AP controls its own connection with other network devices according to the parameter restriction message.

Optionally, the parameter restriction message may include limiting at least one of: a number of network devices connected to the AP, a network speed of each of the network devices, and each of the network devices and the AP Connected time.

The method for controlling a wireless network connection provided by the present invention will be described in detail below through specific embodiments. FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a hardware system applied to a method for controlling a wireless network connection provided by the present invention. As shown in Figure 3, the system includes:

The AP terminal 101 enables the WiFi hotspot to allow more than one STA device to establish a connection, and can set administrator rights for the STA device.

The administrator STA 102, the STA device with administrator rights, can remotely manage the AP terminal;

Ordinary STA103, without administrator rights, its connection time and network speed are controlled by the administrator STA.

The administrator STA 102 is a member from the normal STA 103 and has the same structure as the normal STA 103 except that the remote management authorization of the AP terminal 101 is obtained. The AP terminal 101 needs to provide some configuration required for remote control. In this embodiment, the remote management of the AP terminal 101 for the administrator STA 102 and the corresponding power consumption control can be implemented by the following structure. As shown in FIG. 4, the AP terminal 101 can include:

The base unit 201 can be operated on the terminal operating system, has a wireless Internet access function, and the hotspot is turned on and off, and can be used as a WiFi hotspot. After the WiFi hotspot is turned on, the base unit can allow the AP to establish a connection with one or more STA devices. In the case that its wireless Internet access is turned on, Each STA connected to the WiFi hotspot can access the Internet normally. Provides an operating environment for the view storage unit, the remote login service unit, the hotspot management control unit, and the hotspot management operation unit.

The remote management unit 202 is configured to store a hotspot management view interface and establish a remote login service; the remote management unit may include a view storage module and a remote service module, wherein:

The view storage module 2021 is configured to open an area in the memory and store two sets of data: storing a hotspot management view interface, such as: storing in a webpage form; storing a hotspot management database, where the database includes but is not limited to: the basic unit unit power status, The status of the terminal basic unit data connection switch, the number of STA devices connected to the AP terminal, the name of each STA device, the network speed, and the connection time.

The remote service module 2022 is configured to establish a remote login service. The administrator STA can read the view storage unit and modify its content through the remote service; after the view storage unit content is changed, the remote service unit sends a broadcast message of the view storage unit content change, and stores the changed content in the database.

The control unit 203 is configured to register a broadcast receiver and register a broadcast message in the content change aspect of the view storage unit. When the content of the view storage unit changes, the broadcast receiver receives the corresponding message and sends the message to the hotspot management operation unit. Corresponding operation instruction;

The operation unit 204 can operate the basic unit according to an instruction issued by the control unit, so as to enable the AP terminal data connection to be turned off, disconnect other STA devices, set the number of STA devices, limit the network speed and connection time of other STA devices, and the like. .

As shown in FIG. 5, in this embodiment, a method for controlling a wireless network connection is as follows:

S301: The AP turns on the WiFi hotspot;

S302: The AP sets an STA device as an administrator STA.

S303: The AP detects that the first STA device is connected to the WiFi hotspot;

S304: Determine whether the device is an administrator STA, if yes, go to S306 to perform management work; if not, the administrator STA, go to S305, and detect the connection of the next STA device;

S305: The AP terminal detects that the next STA device is connected to the WiFi hotspot;

S306: The administrator STA obtains the current power and network status of the AP terminal.

S307: The administrator STA obtains the STA device connected to the WiFi hotspot;

S308: determining whether the administrator STA wants to control the network connection, and if so, executing S309; if not, executing S311;

S309: The administrator STA sets a network connection parameter for the AP, and sets a network connection parameter for the normal STA through the AP.

S310: The AP terminal executes an administrator STA instruction.

S311: Determine whether the administrator STA exits the management interface. If yes, the administrator STA quits; if the administrator STA is not logged out, then the process continues to S306.

In this embodiment, a different STA device connected to the AP is divided into an administrator (not more than one) or an ordinary member by starting a service for managing itself on the AP terminal. The administrator can remotely manage the AP terminal, including obtaining the AP terminal power status, enabling and disabling the data connection, disconnecting other STA devices, and limiting the network speed and connection time of other STA devices, so as to implement the AP terminal without directly operating the AP terminal. The optimization of the WiFi hotspot system saves the power consumption of the AP terminal, increases the battery life of the AP terminal, and greatly improves the user experience.

Correspondingly, as shown in FIG. 6 , an embodiment of the present invention further provides an apparatus 6 for controlling a wireless network connection, where the apparatus is disposed in an administrator STA, and may include:

The obtaining unit 61 is configured to acquire power information and/or network status information of the access point AP;

The control unit 62 is configured to control the connection of the AP to other network devices according to the power amount information acquired by the obtaining unit 61 and/or the network status information.

The device 6 for controlling the wireless network connection provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the obtaining unit 61 can obtain the power quantity information and/or the network condition information of the access point AP, and the control unit 62 can be based on the power quantity information and/or the network status information. Controlling the connection between the AP and other network devices, so that when the remaining power of the AP is insufficient or the network condition is not good, the AP can be controlled without a separate operation. The connection between the AP and other network devices can save the huge amount of power consumed by the screen when the user operates the AP, and can also reduce the power consumption of the AP in the data connection by controlling the connection state of the AP with other network devices. Effectively extend battery life and greatly enhance the user experience.

Optionally, the obtaining unit 61 is further configured to acquire remote management rights from the AP before acquiring the power information and/or the network status information of the access point AP.

Optionally, the control unit 62 may be configured to: when the remaining power of the AP is lower than a preset ratio or the network signal strength of the AP is less than a preset threshold, the administrator STA has at least one of the following parameters Limiting: the number of network devices connected to the AP, the network speed of each of the network devices, and the time each network device is connected to the AP.

Specifically, the control unit 62 can be configured to:

Prompting the user for an optional range of the parameters;

Receiving a selection instruction of the parameter by the user;

And transmitting a parameter restriction message to the AP according to the selection instruction.

Correspondingly, as shown in FIG. 7, an embodiment of the present invention further provides an apparatus 8 for controlling a wireless network connection, including:

The sending unit 81 is configured to send the power information and/or network status information of the AP to the administrator STA.

The accepting unit 82 is configured to accept the control of the connection status between the AP and other network devices by the administrator STA.

The apparatus 8 for controlling a wireless network connection provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the sending unit 81 can send its own power quantity information and/or network status information to the administrator STA, and the accepting unit 82 can accept the administrator STA to the AP and other The control of the connection state between the network devices, so that when the remaining power of the AP is insufficient or the network condition is not good, the AP can be controlled to connect with other network devices without performing a separate operation on the AP, thereby saving the user from performing AP on the AP. The huge amount of power consumed by the screen during operation, and the AP can be optionally reduced by controlling the connection status of the AP with other network devices. The power consumption in the data connection, thus effectively extending the battery life, greatly improving the user experience.

The detailed operation of the apparatus 6 for controlling the wireless network connection and the apparatus 8 for controlling the wireless network connection has been described in detail in the method section, and will not be described herein.

While the embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the embodiments described above.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that all or a portion of the steps of the above-described embodiments can be implemented using a computer program flow, which can be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as on a corresponding hardware platform (eg, The system, device, device, device, etc. are executed, and when executed, include one or a combination of the steps of the method embodiments.

Alternatively, all or part of the steps of the above embodiments may also be implemented by using an integrated circuit. These steps may be separately fabricated into individual integrated circuit modules, or multiple modules or steps may be fabricated into a single integrated circuit module. achieve. Thus, the invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

The devices/function modules/functional units in the above embodiments may be implemented by a general-purpose computing device, which may be centralized on a single computing device or distributed over a network of multiple computing devices.

When each device/function module/functional unit in the above embodiment is implemented in the form of a software function module and sold or used as a stand-alone product, it can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. The above mentioned computer readable storage medium may be a read only memory, a magnetic disk or an optical disk or the like.

Industrial applicability

The embodiment of the invention can save the huge power consumption of the screen when the user operates the AP, and can also reduce the power consumption of the AP in the data connection, thereby effectively extending the battery life and greatly improving the user experience.

Claims

A method of controlling a wireless network connection, comprising:

The administrator workstation STA obtains the power information and/or network status information of the access point AP;

The administrator STA controls the connection between the AP and other network devices according to the power information and/or the network status information.
The method according to claim 1, wherein before the administrator STA acquires the power information and/or the network status information of the AP, the method further includes:

The administrator STA obtains remote management rights from the AP.
The method of claim 1, wherein the controlling, by the administrator STA, the connection of the AP to other network devices according to the power information and/or the network status information comprises:

If the remaining power ratio of the AP is lower than a preset ratio or the network signal strength of the AP is less than a preset threshold, the administrator STA limits at least one of the following parameters: a network connected to the AP The number of devices, the network speed of each of the network devices, and the time each of the network devices is connected to the AP.
The method of claim 3 wherein limiting the parameters comprises:

The administrator STA prompts the user for an optional range of the parameter;

Receiving, by the administrator STA, a selection instruction of the parameter by the user;

The administrator STA sends a parameter restriction message to the AP according to the selection instruction.
A method of controlling a wireless network connection, comprising:

The access point AP sends the power information and/or network status information of the AP to the administrator workstation STA.

The AP accepts control of the connection status between the AP and other network devices by the administrator STA.
The method according to claim 5, wherein before the access point AP sends the power information and/or network status information of the AP to the administrator STA, the method further includes:

The AP grants remote management rights to the administrator STA.
The method according to claim 5, wherein the controlling the AP to accept the connection status between the AP and other network devices by the administrator STA comprises:

Receiving, by the AP, a parameter restriction message sent by the administrator STA;

The AP controls its own connection with other network devices according to the parameter restriction message.
The method of claim 7, wherein the parameter restriction message comprises limiting at least one of: a number of network devices connected to the AP, a network speed of each of the network devices, each of the methods The time when the network device is connected to the AP.
A device for controlling a wireless network connection, comprising:

An obtaining unit, configured to obtain power information and/or network status information of the access point AP;

The control unit is configured to control the connection of the AP to other network devices according to the power quantity information acquired by the acquiring unit and/or the network status information.
The device according to claim 9, wherein

The control unit is set to:

If the remaining power ratio of the AP is lower than a preset ratio or the network signal strength of the AP is less than a preset threshold, at least one of the following parameters is limited: the number of network devices connected to the AP, and each The network speed of the network device and the time when each of the network devices is connected to the AP.
A device for controlling a wireless network connection, comprising:

a sending unit, configured to send power information and/or network status information of the AP to the administrator workstation STA;

The accepting unit is configured to accept control of the connection status between the AP and other network devices by the administrator STA.
The device of claim 11 wherein

The accepting unit is configured to: receive a parameter restriction message sent by the administrator STA, and root According to the parameter restriction message, it controls its own connection with other network devices.
A computer program that, when executed by an administrator STA, causes the administrator STA to perform the method of any of claims 1-4.
A computer program that, when executed by an administrator AP, causes the administrator STA to perform the method of any of claims 5-8.
A computer readable storage medium storing the computer program of claim 13 or 14.