WO2021088581A1

WO2021088581A1 - Wireless local area network association method and related device

Info

Publication number: WO2021088581A1
Application number: PCT/CN2020/119848
Authority: WO
Inventors: 王云贵
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2019-11-07
Filing date: 2020-10-07
Publication date: 2021-05-14
Also published as: CN112788706A

Abstract

Disclosed is a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) association method, comprising: a wireless Access Point (AP) in the WLAN sends channel information and access control information to a terminal to be associated with, the channel information indicating at least one channel comprising a first channel, and the access control information indicating capability information of each channel; the wireless AP receives, in the first channel, a first association request sent by the terminal to be associated with, the capability of the terminal to be associated with satisfying capability information of the first channel; the wireless AP associates with the terminal to be associated with according to the first association request. Embodiments of the present application further provide a related device. Because when the capability of the terminal to be associated with satisfies the capability information of the first channel, the association with the terminal to be associated with can be performed, the solution can alleviate the problems that when the terminals in the WLAN are associated with the wireless AP, the terminals associated with the wireless AP by means of the same channel and having different capabilities tend to interfere with each other, and the capability of the first channel cannot be fully utilized.

Description

A wireless local area network associating method and related equipment

This application claims the priority of a Chinese patent application filed on November 7, 2019 with the application number 201911083127.3 and the invention title "A method and related equipment for wireless local area network association", the entire content of which is incorporated into this application by reference .

Technical field

This application relates to the field of communication technology, and specifically to a wireless local area network (WLAN) association method and related equipment.

Background technique

Since the advent of WLAN technology, a variety of WLAN protocol versions have been developed, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11n (corresponding trademark is'Wi-Fi 4'), IEEE 802.11ac (corresponding to The trademarks are'Wi-Fi 5'), IEEE 802.11ax (corresponding trademark is'Wi-Fi 6'), IEEE 802.11be (corresponding trademark may be'Wi-Fi 7'), etc. In the previous version of the WLAN protocol proposed by IEEE 802.11be, the frequency bands available for the WLAN network include the 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) frequency band and the 5 GHz frequency band. In IEEE 802.11be, the 6GHz frequency band is newly added to the frequency band available for WLAN networks.

With the development of the WLAN protocol version, the standard of the WLAN terminal is constantly updated, and there may be conflicts between different standards. For example, the highest WLAN protocol version supported by the old standard WLAN terminal is IEEE 802.11ac, and the highest WLAN protocol version supported by the new standard WLAN terminal has reached IEEE 802.11ax. The WLAN terminal of the old standard uses the channel for data transmission based on the competition method, and the WLAN terminal of the new standard uses the channel for data transmission based on the time-sharing scheduling method. Therefore, the WLAN terminal of the old standard and the new standard are associated with the same wireless access point through the same channel ( When access point, AP), the WLAN terminal of the old standard will compete with the WLAN terminal of the new standard for the right to use the channel, which interferes with the normal scheduling and use of the channel by the WLAN terminal of the new standard. In addition, the capability information of different channels may be different. Some channels have higher data transmission capabilities, some channels have lower data transmission capabilities, and WLAN terminals with lower capabilities (for example, older WLAN terminals that support fewer spatial streams and smaller bandwidth). When a standard WLAN terminal is associated with a wireless AP through a channel with a higher capability, the data transmission capability of the channel cannot be fully utilized, which is not conducive to the overall network performance. As more new frequency bands are put into use, the channel resources available for WLAN networks increase. If terminals of different standards are associated with the same wireless AP through the same channel, interference is likely to occur between terminals of different capabilities, and the channel cannot be fully utilized. In terms of capacity, the newly added channel resources cannot be fully utilized.

Summary of the invention

The present application provides a WLAN association method and related equipment, which are used to solve the problem that when terminals of different standards associate with the same wireless AP through the same channel, terminals with different capabilities are prone to interference and cannot make full use of channel capabilities.

The first aspect of this application provides a WLAN association method. The method is applied to the wireless AP in the WLAN, which includes: the wireless AP sends channel information and access control information to the terminal to be associated. The channel information indicates at least one channel, and the at least one channel includes the first channel. The access control information indicates the capability information of each channel in the at least one channel. When the wireless AP receives the first association request sent by the terminal to be associated in the first channel, and the capability of the terminal to be associated matches the capability information of the first channel, the wireless AP associates the terminal to be associated according to the first association request. It can be seen from the above first aspect that when the capability of the terminal to be associated is consistent with the capability information of the channel requested to be associated with the wireless AP, the wireless AP is associated with it. In this way, the capability of the terminal conforms to the capability information of the channel that it requests to associate with the wireless AP as much as possible, which alleviates the problem of mutual interference due to the different capabilities of the terminals associated on the same channel, and makes the channel capability to be fully utilized as much as possible.

In a possible implementation manner, the foregoing channel information and access control information are in a beacon frame and/or a probe response frame sent by the wireless AP. In this implementation manner, the terminal can obtain channel capability information before associating, so as to select a suitable channel in advance, which improves efficiency.

In a possible implementation manner, before the wireless AP sends channel information and access control information to the terminal to be associated, the WLAN association method further includes: the wireless AP receives a second association request sent by the terminal to be associated in a second channel, The second association request includes indication information of the capability of the terminal to be associated; when the capability of the terminal to be associated does not meet the capability information of the second channel, the wireless AP replies an association response to the terminal to be associated in the second channel, where , The association response includes the aforementioned channel information and access control information. In this implementation, after the wireless AP initiates an association request through any channel to be associated with the terminal, if the terminal to be associated does not meet the capability information of the channel, the wireless AP sends channel information and access to the terminal to be associated with an association response. Into the control information, so as to prompt promptly when the terminal selects an inappropriate channel.

In a possible implementation manner, the aforementioned access control information includes standard capability information, spatial stream capability information, bandwidth capability information, or any combination thereof. Among them, the standard capability information is used to indicate the WLAN protocol version supported by each channel in at least one channel indicated by the channel information, the spatial stream capability information is used to indicate the number of spatial streams supported by each channel, and the bandwidth capability information is used to indicate each channel. The bandwidth supported by the channel.

In a possible implementation manner, before the wireless AP sends channel information and access control information to the terminal to be associated, the WLAN association method further includes: the wireless AP receives a channel configuration parameter sent by the controller, and the channel configuration parameter includes the above-mentioned channel. Information and access control information; the wireless AP configures at least one channel indicated by the channel information according to the channel configuration parameter. The format of the channel configuration parameter can be the same as the format of the aforementioned channel information and access control information, or a different format can be used.

A second aspect of the present application provides a WLAN association method, which is applied to a terminal in a WLAN, and the method includes: the terminal sends an association request to a wireless AP in a first channel, and the association request includes indication information of the terminal's capability The terminal receives channel information and access control information sent by the wireless AP, the channel information indicates at least one channel, the at least one channel includes a second channel, and the access control information indicates the capability information of each channel in the at least one channel ; When the capability of the terminal matches the capability information of the second channel, the terminal tries to associate with the wireless AP in the second channel.

In a possible implementation manner, the aforementioned access control information includes one of standard capability information, spatial stream capability information, and bandwidth capability information, or any combination thereof, wherein the standard capability information is used to indicate at least the information indicated by the channel information. The WLAN protocol version supported by each channel in a channel, the spatial stream capability information is used to indicate the number of spatial streams supported by each channel, and the bandwidth capability information is used to indicate the bandwidth supported by each channel.

A third aspect of the present application provides a method, the method includes: a controller sends a channel configuration parameter to a wireless AP in a WLAN to instruct the wireless AP to configure at least one channel according to the channel configuration parameter, and the channel configuration parameter includes channel information and Access control information, where the channel information indicates the aforementioned at least one channel, and the access control information indicates the capability information of each of the aforementioned at least one channel.

The fourth aspect of the present application provides a wireless AP, where the wireless AP is configured to execute the WLAN association method in the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect. Specifically, the wireless AP may include a module for executing the WLAN association method in the first aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect.

A fifth aspect of the present application provides a terminal, which is configured to execute the WLAN association method in the second aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the second aspect. Specifically, the terminal may include a module for executing the WLAN association method in the second aspect or any one of the possible implementation manners of the second aspect.

A sixth aspect of the present application provides a controller, and the controller is configured to execute the method in the third aspect. Specifically, the controller may include a module for executing the method in the third aspect.

A seventh aspect of the present application provides a wireless AP, the wireless AP includes a processor, a memory, and a transceiver, the processor is coupled to the memory, the transceiver is used to receive or send data, and the memory is used to store instructions, The processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory, and executing the instructions stored in the memory causes the processor to execute the first aspect or the WLAN association method in any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect.

An eighth aspect of the present application provides a terminal. The terminal includes a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. The processor is coupled to the memory. The transceiver is used to receive or send data. The memory is used to store instructions. The processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory, and executing the instructions stored in the memory enables the processor to execute the second aspect or the WLAN association method in any one of the possible implementation manners of the second aspect.

A ninth aspect of the present application provides a controller, the controller includes a processor, a memory, and a communication interface, the processor is coupled with the memory, the communication interface is used for communicating with the outside, and the memory is used for storing instructions, The processor is configured to execute instructions stored in the memory, and execution of the instructions stored in the memory causes the processor to execute the method in the third aspect.

A tenth aspect of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored in the computer-readable storage medium, which when run on a computer, cause the computer to execute the first, second, and third aspects or the first and second aspects above. , The method in any one of the three possible implementations.

The eleventh aspect of the present application provides a computer program product containing instructions, which when running on a computer, enables the computer to execute the first, second, and third aspects or any one of the possible implementations of the first, second, and third aspects. The method in the way.

A twelfth aspect of the present application provides a communication system. The communication system includes the above-mentioned wireless AP and a terminal. Optionally, the communication system further includes the above-mentioned controller.

Description of the drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the application architecture of an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a WLAN association method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a wireless AP provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a terminal provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a controller provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a wireless AP provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a terminal provided by an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a controller provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

The terms "first" and "second" in the specification and claims of the application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific sequence or sequence. It should be understood that the data used in this way can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances, so that the embodiments described herein can be implemented in a sequence other than the content illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations of them are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions. For example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps, units or modules is not necessarily limited to clearly listed Instead, those steps, units, or modules listed may include other steps, units, or modules that are not clearly listed or are inherent to these processes, methods, products, or equipment. The naming or numbering of steps appearing in this application does not mean that the steps in the method flow must be executed in the time/logical sequence indicated by the naming or numbering. The named or numbered process steps can be implemented according to the The technical purpose changes the execution order, as long as the same or similar technical effects can be achieved. The division of units or modules appearing in this application is a logical division. In actual applications, there may be other divisions. For example, multiple modules can be combined or integrated in another system, or some features It can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection between the modules may be electrical or other similar forms , There is no limitation in this application. In addition, the unit or module described as a separate component may or may not be physically separate, may or may not be a physical module, or may be distributed to multiple circuit modules, and some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs. To achieve the purpose of this application scheme.

The embodiments of the present application may be applied to the WLAN architecture shown in FIG. 1, and the WLAN architecture includes a wireless AP and multiple terminals. A wireless AP can associate with multiple terminals through different channels (such as channel 1, channel 2, and channel 3 shown in the figure), so that terminals with different capabilities (such as terminal 1, terminal 2 and terminal 3 shown in the figure) Access to WLAN through different channels. Optionally, the WLAN architecture further includes a controller, and the controller may communicate with the wireless AP in a wired manner, or may communicate with the wireless AP in a wireless manner. The controller can send channel configuration parameters to the wireless AP to control the wireless AP to configure different channels according to the channel configuration parameters sent by it.

The embodiments of the present application also provide corresponding equipment. In the following, specific embodiments will be used to introduce the WLAN association method, wireless AP, controller, and terminal in this application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a WLAN association method in an embodiment of the application.

As shown in FIG. 2, an embodiment of the WLAN association method in the embodiment of the present application may include:

201. The wireless AP in the WLAN sends channel information and access control information to the terminal to be associated.

The channel information sent by the wireless AP to the terminal to be associated indicates at least one channel, and the at least one channel includes the first channel. Correspondingly, the access control information indicates the capability information of each channel in at least one channel indicated by the channel information.

The terminal to be associated in the embodiment of the present application refers to a terminal that has not been associated with the wireless AP described in the embodiment of the present application. The terminal to be associated may be a terminal that is not associated with any wireless AP, or a terminal that has established an association relationship with other wireless APs other than the wireless AP. Taking mobile phones as an example, mobile phones are a type of terminal. In the actual use of mobile phones, users often use Wi-Fi Internet services in order to save the overhead of mobile traffic. When using the Wi-Fi Internet access function, the coverage of each wireless AP that provides Wi-Fi Internet services is limited. Therefore, when users are in the coverage of different wireless APs, they are associated with different wireless APs. When the user is under the coverage of an unassociated wireless AP, if you need to use Wi-Fi Internet services, you need to associate with the unassociated wireless AP. For the wireless AP, the terminal used by the user It is a terminal to be associated.

The wireless AP can broadcast channel information and access control information to the terminal to be associated. Specifically, the channel information and the access control information may be configured in the beacon frame sent by the wireless AP, or other types of broadcast frames. The wireless AP can also reply a probe response frame to the terminal to be associated according to the probe request frame sent by the terminal to be associated, and configure the channel information and access control information in the probe response frame, thereby sending the channel information and access control information to Terminal to be associated.

In an optional solution, the wireless AP may also reply an association response frame to the terminal to be associated according to the association request frame sent by the terminal to be associated, and configure the channel information and access control information in the association response frame, thereby setting The channel information and access control information are sent to the terminal to be associated. For example, the terminal to be associated sends an association request to the wireless AP on the second channel. When the capability of the terminal to be associated does not meet the capability information of the second channel, the wireless AP replies with an association response to the terminal to be associated, and the association response carries For the above-mentioned channel information and access control information, the at least one channel indicated by the channel information includes the first channel, and the capability information of the first channel is consistent with the capability of the terminal to be associated, and then the terminal to be associated again reports to the wireless AP on the first channel. Send an association request.

Specifically, before the wireless AP sends the channel information and access control information to the terminal to be associated, that is, before step 201, the terminal to be associated may send the second channel to the wireless AP through the second channel when the capability information of each channel is uncertain. An association request. The second association request carries indication information of the capability of the terminal to be associated, and the second association request may be the aforementioned association request frame. After receiving the second association request in the second channel, the wireless AP determines whether the capability of the terminal to be associated meets the capability information of the second channel. If not, the wireless AP may choose not to associate with the terminal to be associated. And reply the association response to the terminal to be associated in the second channel, and the association response may be the above-mentioned association response frame. The association response indicates that the wireless AP refuses to associate with the terminal, and the association response includes the channel information and access control information in the foregoing embodiment, the channel information indicates at least one channel, including the first channel, and the access control channel indicates every Capability information of each channel. The terminal to be associated may select the first channel that matches its capability to associate with the wireless AP according to the access control information.

If the wireless AP after the terminal to be associated sends an association request to the wireless AP through any channel, it judges whether the capability of the terminal to be associated matches the capability information of the arbitrary channel according to the indication information of the capability of the terminal to be associated in the association request. The AP may send channel information and access control information to the terminal to be associated through an association response when the terminal to be associated selects a channel that does not match its capabilities to request to associate with the wireless AP, so as to instruct the terminal to be associated to select a channel that matches the capability to associate with the wireless AP. In this way, when the terminal to be associated selects an inappropriate channel to associate with the wireless AP, it can prompt the terminal to be associated to select a suitable channel for association in time.

Further, in this way, the wireless AP can also give up sending channel information and access control information to the terminal to be associated by broadcasting, reducing the message overhead caused by the wireless AP continuously broadcasting channel information and access control information to the terminal to be associated , Save network resources and energy consumption.

Optionally, the access control information may include standard capability information, spatial stream capability information, bandwidth capability information, or any combination thereof. The foregoing standard capability information, spatial stream capability information, and bandwidth capability information are only three common types of access control information. In addition, the access control information may also include other types of capability information. If the access control information includes multiple content, the access control information can be sent by the wireless AP at one time, or it can be sent by the wireless AP in multiple messages.

The standard capability information is used to indicate the highest WLAN protocol version supported by each of the channels indicated by the channel information. In this embodiment, when the highest WLAN protocol version supported by the terminal to be associated is higher than or the same as the WLAN protocol version supported by a certain channel, the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the channel. For example, the channel information indicates at least two channels including the first channel and the second channel. Among them, the WLAN protocol version supported by the first channel is IEEE 802.11ac or lower (for example, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n), and the WLAN protocol version supported by the second channel is IEEE 802.11ax or higher (for example, IEEE 802.11be ). When a terminal that supports up to IEEE 802.11n tries to associate with a wireless AP on the first channel, the WLAN protocol version supported by the first channel includes IEEE802.11n, so the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the first channel, and Does not meet the capability information of the second channel. If the highest WLAN protocol version supported by the terminal to be associated is IEEE 802.11be, the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the second channel, but does not conform to the capability information of the first channel. If the highest WLAN protocol version supported by the terminal to be associated is IEEE 802.11ax, the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the second channel, but does not conform to the capability information of the first channel. If the highest WLAN protocol version supported by the terminal to be associated is IEEE 802.11ac, the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the first channel, but does not conform to the capability information of the second channel. For another example, the channel information indicates the first channel, the second channel, the third channel, and the fourth channel. The WLAN protocol version supported by the first channel is IEEE 802.11ax, and the WLAN protocol version supported by the second channel is IEEE 802.11ac. The WLAN protocol version supported by the third channel is IEEE 802.11n, and the WLAN protocol version supported by the fourth channel is IEEE 802.11ax, and the terminal associated with the wireless AP can be adaptively adjusted to support IEEE 802.11ac or a lower version according to the request. That is to say, when a terminal that supports IEEE 802.11ac tries to associate with a wireless AP on the fourth channel, the WLAN protocol version supported by the fourth channel can be adaptively adjusted to IEEE 802.11ac, when a terminal that supports IEEE 802.11n or more When a terminal of a lower version (such as IEEE 802.11a/b/g) tries to associate with a wireless AP on the fourth channel, the WLAN protocol version supported by the fourth channel can also be adaptively adjusted from IEEE 802.11ac to IEEE 802.11n or lower version. Therefore, the capability information of the fourth channel is consistent with the capabilities of all terminals. If the WLAN protocol version supported by the terminal to be associated is IEEE 802.11ax, the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the first channel and the fourth channel. If the highest WLAN protocol version supported by the terminal to be associated is IEEE 802.11ac, the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the second channel and the fourth channel, but does not conform to the capability information of the first channel and the third channel. If the highest WLAN protocol version supported by the terminal to be associated is IEEE 802.11n, the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the third channel and the fourth channel, but does not conform to the capability information of the first channel and the second channel.

The spatial stream capability information in the access control information is used to indicate the number of spatial streams supported by each channel. In this embodiment, when the maximum number of spatial streams supported by the terminal to be associated is greater than or equal to the number of spatial streams supported by a certain channel, the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the channel. For example, the channel information indicates the first channel, the second channel, the third channel, and the fourth channel. The number of spatial streams supported by the first channel is 1, the number of spatial streams supported by the second channel is 4, and the number of spatial streams supported by the third channel is 4. The number of streams is 8, the number of spatial streams supported by the fourth channel is 4 and can be adjusted to less than 4 according to the request of the terminal associated with the wireless AP (for example, the number of spatial streams currently supported by the fourth channel is 4, when one supports the maximum When a terminal with a number of spatial streams of 2 tries to associate with a wireless AP on the fourth channel, the number of spatial streams supported by the fourth channel can be adaptively adjusted to 2), so the capabilities of the fourth channel are consistent with the capabilities of all terminals. If the maximum number of spatial streams supported by the terminal to be associated is 8, the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the first channel, the second channel, the third channel, and the fourth channel. If the maximum number of spatial streams supported by the terminal to be associated is 4, the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the first channel, the second channel, and the fourth channel, and conforms to the capability information of the third channel. If the maximum number of spatial streams supported by the terminal to be associated is 1, the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the first channel and the fourth channel, but does not conform to the capability information of the second channel and the third channel. When the maximum number of spatial streams supported by all terminals is greater than or equal to the number of spatial streams supported by the associated channel, these associated terminals can make full use of the number of spatial streams supported by the channel for data transmission, so that the capacity of the channel can be fully utilized , Improve overall network performance.

The bandwidth capability information in the access control information is used to indicate the bandwidth supported by each channel. In this embodiment, when the maximum bandwidth supported by the terminal to be associated is not less than the bandwidth supported by a certain channel, the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the channel. For example, the channel information indicates the first channel, the second channel, the third channel, and the fourth channel. The bandwidth supported by the first channel is 80 megahertz (MHz) (for example, when the first channel is channel 42 or channel 155), The bandwidth supported by the second channel is 40MHz (for example, when the second channel is channel 46 or channel 102), the bandwidth supported by the third channel is 20MHz (for example, when the third channel is channel 60 or channel 104), and the bandwidth supported by the fourth channel is 40MHz and can be adaptively adjusted to below 40MHz according to the request of the terminal associated with the wireless AP (for example, the bandwidth currently supported by the fourth channel is 40MHz, when a terminal that supports up to 20MHz bandwidth tries to associate with the wireless AP on the fourth channel, The bandwidth supported by the fourth channel can be adaptively adjusted to 20 MHz), so the capabilities of the fourth channel are consistent with the capabilities of all terminals. If the maximum bandwidth supported by the terminal to be associated is 80 MHz, the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the first channel, the second channel, the third channel, and the fourth channel. If the maximum bandwidth supported by the terminal to be associated is 40 MHz, the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the second channel, the third channel, and the fourth channel, and conforms to the capability information of the first channel. If the maximum number of spatial streams supported by the terminal to be associated is 20 MHz, the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the third channel and the fourth channel, and conforms to the capability information of the first channel and the second channel. When the maximum bandwidth supported by all terminals is not less than the bandwidth supported by the associated channel, these associated terminals can make full use of the bandwidth supported by the channel for data transmission, so that the capacity of the channel can be fully utilized and the overall network performance can be improved.

In an optional solution, the channel information and access control information sent by the wireless AP to the terminal to be associated come from the controller. Before step 201, the wireless AP receives the channel configuration parameters sent by the controller and configures the parameters according to the channel. Configure at least one channel indicated in the channel information. The channel configuration parameters sent by the controller to the wireless AP may include the channel information and access control information described in the foregoing embodiments, and the format of the channel configuration parameters may be the same as the format of the foregoing channel information and access control information, or Use different formats.

The specific content of channel information and access control information can be determined by the controller. After receiving the channel configuration parameters sent by the controller, the wireless AP performs channel configuration according to the channel information and access control information in the channel configuration parameters to determine the channel Each channel indicated by the information, and the capability information of each channel is configured according to the access control information, so as to physically establish a connection between the channel information and the access control information. The wireless AP can also determine its channel configuration parameters by itself, and omit the steps of receiving the channel configuration parameters sent by the controller and configuring the channel according to the channel configuration parameters.

202. The wireless AP receives the first association request sent by the terminal to be associated in the first channel.

After the wireless AP sends the channel information and the access control information to the terminal to be associated, the terminal to be associated can determine the channel whose capability matches its capability according to the capability information of each channel indicated by the access control information. For example, the terminal to be associated receives channel information and access control information via channel 149, and the channel information includes channel 36 information and channel 149 information. If the terminal to be associated determines that the capability of the channel 149 is consistent with its capability, it sends a first association request to the wireless AP in the channel 149. At this time, channel 149 is the first channel. If the terminal to be associated determines that the capabilities of other channels other than channel 149, such as channel 36, are consistent with its capabilities, it sends a first association request to the wireless AP in channel 36, and channel 36 is the first channel at this time. The first association request may be an association request frame or a re-association request frame. When the first channel includes multiple sub-channels, the terminal to be associated may only send the first association request to the wireless AP on the main channel, or may use any sub-channel to send the first association request to the wireless AP.

The first association request can carry indication information of the capability of the terminal to be associated, so that the wireless AP can again determine that the capability of the terminal to be associated meets the first channel after receiving the first association request sent by the terminal to be associated in the first channel. The capability information of a channel is thereby associated with the terminal to be associated according to the first association request, so as to avoid sending in unexpected situations where the capability of the terminal to be associated does not meet. The first association request may not carry the indication information of the capability of the terminal to be associated, because after the wireless AP sends the channel information and access control information to the terminal to be associated, the terminal to be associated has already been in accordance with the information indicated by the access control information. For the capability information of each channel, it is determined that its capability conforms to the capability information of the first channel, so that the first association request is sent to the wireless AP in the first channel, and the wireless AP does not need to determine again whether the capability of the terminal to be associated meets the capability of the first channel. Capability information reduces the workload and energy consumption of the wireless AP.

As described in step 201 above, the capability of the terminal to be associated may also conform to channels other than the first channel. When the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of multiple channels, the terminal to be associated selects one of the channels according to its internal strategy. Send an association request to the wireless AP. In this embodiment, the first channel is the channel selected by the terminal to be associated according to its internal strategy.

203. The wireless AP associates the terminal to be associated according to the first association request.

In this embodiment, after the wireless AP receives the first association request sent by the terminal to be associated in the first channel, it can associate the terminal to be associated according to the first association request, and the terminal to be associated can use the wireless AP to provide WLAN service.

In this embodiment, when the wireless AP receives the first association request sent by the terminal to be associated in the first channel, and the capability of the terminal to be associated meets the capability information of the first channel, the wireless AP An association request associates the terminal to be associated. In this way, the capability of the terminal conforms to the capability information of the first channel as much as possible, alleviating the problem of mutual interference caused by the different capabilities of the terminals associated on the first channel, and making full use of the channel capability as much as possible.

The WLAN association method provided in the embodiment of the present application is described above, and the wireless AP, terminal, and controller provided in the embodiment of the present application are described below.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a wireless AP provided by an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in FIG. 3, the wireless AP may include: a sending unit 301, a receiving unit 302, and a processing unit 303.

The sending unit 301 is configured to send channel information and access control information to the terminal to be associated, where the channel information indicates at least one channel, including the first channel, and the access control information indicates the capability information of each channel in the at least one channel. .

The receiving unit 302 is configured to receive a first association request sent by a terminal to be associated in the first channel, and the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the first channel.

The processing unit 303 is configured to associate the terminal to be associated according to the first association request.

In a possible solution, the above-mentioned channel information and access control information are located in the beacon frame or the probe response frame sent by the sending unit 301, and may also be in the beacon frame and the probe response frame at the same time.

In a possible solution, the receiving unit 302 is further configured to receive a second association request sent by the terminal to be associated in the second channel before the sending unit 301 sends channel information and access control information to the terminal to be associated. The second association request includes the indication information of the capability of the terminal to be associated. Based on this solution, the sending unit 301 is specifically configured to: when the capability of the terminal to be associated does not meet the capability information of the second channel, reply an association response to the terminal to be associated in the second channel, where the association response includes the aforementioned channel information And access control information.

In a possible solution, the aforementioned access control information includes one of standard capability information, spatial stream capability information, and bandwidth capability information, or any combination thereof, wherein the standard capability information is used to indicate at least one of the information indicated by the channel information. The highest WLAN protocol version supported by each channel in the channel, the spatial stream capability information is used to indicate the maximum number of spatial streams supported by each channel, and the bandwidth capability information is used to indicate the maximum bandwidth supported by each channel.

In a possible solution, the receiving unit 302 is further configured to receive a channel configuration parameter sent by the controller before the sending unit 301 sends channel information and access control information to the terminal to be associated, where the channel configuration parameter includes the above-mentioned channel information And access control information; the processing unit 303 is further configured to configure the at least one channel mentioned above according to the channel configuration parameter.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a terminal provided by an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in FIG. 4, the terminal may include: a sending unit 401 and a receiving unit 402.

The sending unit 401 is configured to send an association request to the wireless AP in the first channel, and the association request includes indication information of the terminal's capability.

The receiving unit 402 is configured to receive channel information and access control information sent by the wireless AP, where the channel information indicates at least one channel, including a second channel, and the access control information indicates the capability information of each channel in the at least one channel. , The capability of the terminal conforms to the foregoing capability information of the second channel.

The sending unit 401 is further configured to try to associate with the wireless AP in the second channel. Specifically, the sending unit 401 sends another association request to the wireless AP in the second channel.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a controller provided by an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in Figure 5, the controller may specifically include:

The sending unit 501 is configured to send a channel configuration parameter to a wireless AP to instruct the wireless AP to configure at least one channel according to the channel configuration parameter. The channel configuration parameter includes channel information and access control information, where the channel information indicates the aforementioned at least one channel , The access control information indicates the capability information of each channel in the at least one channel.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a wireless AP provided by an embodiment of the present application.

As shown in FIG. 6, the wireless AP may include, but is not limited to, a processor 601, a memory 602, and a transceiver 603. In the embodiment of the present application, the processor 601 is configured to control the actions of the wireless AP. Exemplarily, on this basis, the wireless AP may also integrate other components, such as a communication interface 604, a modulator 605, an antenna array 606, and other components, which are not limited here.

In addition, the processor 601 may be a central processing unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array, or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute various exemplary logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this application. The processor may also be a combination that implements computing functions, for example, a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, and so on. Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and conciseness of the description, the specific working process of the device and unit described above can refer to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a terminal provided by an embodiment of the present application.

For ease of understanding and illustration, in FIG. 7, the terminal uses a mobile phone as an example. As shown in FIG. 7, the terminal may include, but is not limited to, a processor, a memory, a radio frequency circuit, an antenna, and an input and output device. The processor is mainly used to process communication protocols and communication data, control the terminal, execute software program instructions, and process software program data. The memory is mainly used to store software program instructions and data. The radio frequency circuit is mainly used for the conversion of baseband signal and radio frequency signal and the processing of radio frequency signal. The antenna is mainly used to send and receive radio frequency signals in the form of electromagnetic waves. Input and output devices, such as touch screens, display screens, keyboards, etc., are mainly used to receive data input by users and output data to users. It should be noted that some types of terminals may not have input and output devices.

When data needs to be sent, the processor performs baseband processing on the data to be sent, and then outputs the baseband signal to the radio frequency circuit. The radio frequency circuit performs radio frequency processing on the baseband signal and sends the radio frequency signal to the outside in the form of electromagnetic waves through the antenna. When data is sent to the terminal, the radio frequency circuit receives the radio frequency signal through the antenna, converts the radio frequency signal into a baseband signal, and outputs the baseband signal to the processor, and the processor converts the baseband signal into data and processes the data. For ease of description, only one memory and processor are shown in FIG. 7. In actual end products, there may be one or more processors and one or more memories. The memory may also be referred to as a storage medium or storage device. The memory may be set independently of the processor, or may be integrated with the processor, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

In the embodiment of the present application, the antenna and radio frequency circuit with data transceiving function can be regarded as the transceiver of the terminal. As shown in FIG. 7, the terminal includes but is not limited to a processor 701 and a transceiver 702. Optionally, the device for implementing the receiving function in the transceiver 702 can be regarded as a receiver, and the device for implementing the sending function in the transceiver 702 can be regarded as a transmitter, that is, the transceiver 702 includes a receiver and a transmitter. The receiver may also be called a receiver, a receiving device, or a receiving circuit, etc. The transmitter may also be called a transmitter, a transmitting device, or a transmitting circuit.

It should be understood that the transceiver 702 is configured to perform the data sending operation and the data receiving operation of the terminal to be associated in the foregoing method embodiment, and the processor 701 is configured to control the transceiver 702 to perform the data transceiving operation of the terminal to be associated in the foregoing method embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a controller provided by an embodiment of the application.

As shown in FIG. 8, the controller may include, but is not limited to, a processor 801, a memory 802, and a communication interface 803. In the embodiment of the present application, the processor 801 is used to control actions of the controller. The memory 802 is used to store application program codes for executing the solutions of the present application, and is controlled by the processor 801 to execute. The communication interface 803 may be used to communicate with the outside, for example, to communicate with a wireless AP. In this embodiment of the present application, the communication interface 803 is used to send channel configuration parameters to the wireless AP. The communication interface 803 may be a wired communication interface or a wireless communication interface.

The processor 801 may be a central processing unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array, or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute various exemplary logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of this application. The processor may also be a combination that implements computing functions, for example, a combination of one or more microprocessors, a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, and so on. Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and conciseness of the description, the specific working process of the device and unit described above can refer to the corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, it may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, firmware, or a combination thereof, it may be implemented in the form of a computer program product in whole or in part. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on the computer, the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated in whole or in part. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable devices. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from a website, computer, server, or data center. Transmission to another website, computer, server or data center via wired (such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, twisted pair) or wireless (such as infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium may be any medium that can be stored by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or a data center integrated with one or more media. The medium may be a magnetic medium, (for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (for example, an optical disc), or a semiconductor medium (for example, a solid state drive (SSD)).

Claims

A wireless local area network (WLAN) association method, which is characterized in that it includes:

The wireless access point in the WLAN sends channel information and access control information to the terminal to be associated, where the channel information indicates at least one channel, the at least one channel includes a first channel, and the access control information indicates the at least one channel. Capability information of each channel in the channel;

Receiving, by the wireless access point, a first association request sent by the terminal to be associated in the first channel, and the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the first channel;

The wireless access point associates the terminal to be associated according to the first association request.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the channel information and the access control information are in a beacon frame and/or a probe response frame sent by the wireless access point.
The method of claim 1, wherein:

Before the wireless access point sends channel information and access control information to the terminal to be associated, the method further includes: the wireless access point receives a second association request sent by the terminal to be associated in a second channel, The second association request includes indication information of the capability of the terminal to be associated;

The wireless access point sending channel information and access control information to the terminal to be associated includes: when the capability of the terminal to be associated does not meet the capability information of the second channel, the wireless access point is in the first channel. In the second channel, an association response is returned to the terminal to be associated, where the association response includes the channel information and the access control information.
The method according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the access control information includes at least one of standard capability information, spatial stream capability information, and bandwidth capability information, and the standard capability information is used to indicate The WLAN protocol version supported by each channel in the at least one channel, the spatial stream capability information is used to indicate the number of spatial streams supported by each channel in the at least one channel, and the bandwidth capability information is used to indicate the at least The bandwidth supported by each channel in a channel.
The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein before the wireless access point sends channel information and access control information to the terminal to be associated, the method further comprises:

Receiving, by the wireless access point, a channel configuration parameter sent by a controller, where the channel configuration parameter includes the channel information and the access control information;

The wireless access point configures the at least one channel according to the channel configuration parameter.
A wireless local area network (WLAN) association method, which is characterized in that it includes:

The terminal in the WLAN sends an association request to the wireless access point in the first channel, where the association request includes indication information of the terminal's capability;

The terminal receives channel information and access control information sent by the wireless access point, the channel information indicates at least one channel, the at least one channel includes a second channel, and the access control information indicates the at least one channel The capability information of each channel in the channel, and the capability of the terminal conforms to the capability information of the second channel;

The terminal tries to associate with the wireless access point in the second channel.
The method according to claim 6, wherein the access control information includes at least one of standard capability information, spatial stream capability information, and bandwidth capability information, and the standard capability configuration information is used to indicate the at least The WLAN protocol version supported by each channel in a channel, the spatial stream capability configuration information is used to indicate the number of spatial streams supported by each channel in the at least one channel, and the bandwidth capability configuration information is used to indicate the at least one channel The bandwidth supported by each channel in the channel.
A configuration method, characterized in that the method includes:

The controller sends a channel configuration parameter to a wireless access point in a wireless local area network (WLAN) to instruct the wireless access point to configure at least one channel according to the channel configuration parameter, and the channel configuration parameter includes channel information and access Control information, the channel information indicates the at least one channel, and the access control information indicates capability information of each channel in the at least one channel.
A wireless access point, characterized in that it comprises:

The sending unit is configured to send channel information and access control information to the terminal to be associated, where the channel information indicates at least one channel, the at least one channel includes a first channel, and the access control information indicates that the at least one channel Capability information of each channel;

A receiving unit, configured to receive a first association request sent by the terminal to be associated in the first channel, and the capability of the terminal to be associated conforms to the capability information of the first channel;

The processing unit is configured to associate the terminal to be associated according to the first association request.
The wireless access point according to claim 9, wherein the channel information and the access control information are in a beacon frame and/or a probe response frame sent by the sending unit.
The wireless access point according to claim 9, wherein:

The receiving unit is further configured to receive a second association request sent by the terminal to be associated in a second channel before the sending unit sends the channel information and the access control information to the terminal to be associated , The second association request includes the indication information of the capability of the terminal to be associated;

The sending unit is specifically configured to: when the capability of the terminal to be associated does not meet the capability information of the second channel, reply an association response to the terminal to be associated in the second channel, wherein the association The response includes the channel information and the access control information.
The wireless access point according to any one of claims 9-11, wherein the access control information includes at least one of system capability information, spatial stream capability information, and bandwidth capability information, and the system capability information Is used to indicate the WLAN protocol version supported by each channel in the at least one channel, the spatial stream capability information is used to indicate the number of spatial streams supported by each channel in the at least one channel, and the bandwidth capability information is used to indicate The bandwidth supported by each of the at least one channel.
The wireless access point according to any one of claims 9-12, wherein:

The receiving unit is further configured to receive channel configuration parameters sent by the controller before the sending unit sends the channel information and the access control information to the terminal to be associated, where the channel configuration parameters include the Channel information and the access control information;

The processing unit is further configured to configure the at least one channel according to the channel configuration parameter.
A terminal, characterized in that it comprises:

A sending unit, configured to send an association request to the wireless access point in the first channel, where the association request includes indication information of the terminal's capability;

The receiving unit is configured to receive channel information and access control information sent by the wireless access point, where the channel information indicates at least one channel, the at least one channel includes a second channel, and the access control information indicates the Capability information of each channel in at least one channel, and the capability of the terminal conforms to the capability information of the second channel;

The sending unit is further configured to try to associate with the wireless access point in the second channel.
The terminal according to claim 14, wherein the access control information includes at least one of standard capability information, spatial stream capability information, and bandwidth capability information, and the standard capability configuration information is used to indicate the at least one The WLAN protocol version supported by each channel in a channel, the spatial stream capability configuration information is used to indicate the number of spatial streams supported by each channel in the at least one channel, and the bandwidth capability configuration information is used to indicate the at least one channel The bandwidth supported by each channel in the channel.
A controller is used to send channel configuration parameters to a wireless access point to instruct the wireless access point to configure at least one channel according to the channel configuration parameters, and the channel configuration parameters include channel information and access control information, so The channel information indicates the at least one channel, and the access control information indicates capability information of each channel in the at least one channel.
A wireless access point includes a processor and a transceiver, the processor is coupled with a memory, the memory is used to store computer programs or instructions, and the processor is used to execute the computer programs or instructions in the memory and control The transceiver receives or sends data so that the wireless access point executes the method according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
A terminal includes a processor and a transceiver, the processor is coupled with a memory, the memory is used to store a computer program or instruction, the processor is used to execute the computer program or instruction in the memory, and control the transceiver The device receives or sends data so that the terminal executes the method described in claim 6 or 7.
A controller includes a processor and a transceiver, the processor is coupled with a memory, the memory is used to store computer programs or instructions, and the processor is used to execute the computer programs or instructions in the memory and control the The transceiver receives or transmits data so that the controller executes the method of claim 8.
A computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, wherein the program implements the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 when the program is executed.