Wireless communication control method and wireless network device

• US 10,129,832 B2
• Filed: 09/23/2016
• Issued: 11/13/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/26/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Huawei Investment & Holding Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Ruan, Wei
• Primary Examiner(s): Scheibel, Robert C
• Application Number:
  US15/274,800
• Publication Number:
  US 20170013560A1
• Time in Patent Office: 781 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0245 according to signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0258 controlling an operation mode according to history or models of usage information, e.g. activity schedule or time of day
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/143 Downlink power control
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/245 taking into account received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/246 where the output power of a terminal is based on a path parameter calculated in said terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/343 taking into account loading or congestion level
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/50 at the moment of starting communication in a multiple access environment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A wireless communication control method and apparatus are provided. The method includes: receiving, by a wireless network device in a first frequency band, a first probe request frame sent by a terminal, and receiving, in a second frequency band, a second probe request frame sent by the terminal, where a quantity of non-overlapping channels in the first frequency band is less than that in the second frequency band; and a first transmit power of the wireless network device in the first frequency band is lower than a second transmit power of the wireless network device in the second frequency band; preferentially responding, by the wireless network device, to the first probe request frame at the first transmit power if a signal transmission strength of the terminal is greater than a preset strength. Co-channel interference in an operating frequency band including a relatively small quantity of non-overlapping channels is reduced.

Claims

1. A wireless communication control method, comprising:

receiving, by a wireless network device in a first frequency band, a first probe request frame sent by a terminal, and receiving, in a second frequency band, a second probe request frame sent by the terminal, wherein a quantity of non-overlapping channels in the first frequency band is less than a quantity of non-overlapping channels in the second frequency band; and

a first transmit power of the wireless network device in the first frequency band is lower than a second transmit power of the wireless network device in the second frequency band;

preferentially responding, by the wireless network device, to the first probe request frame at the first transmit power if a signal transmission strength of the terminal is greater than a preset strength; and

preferentially responding, by the wireless network device, to the second probe request frame at the second transmit power if the signal transmission strength of the terminal is less than the preset strength.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the preferentially responding, by the wireless network device, to the first probe request frame at the first transmit power if a signal transmission strength of the terminal is greater than a preset strength comprises:

responding, by the wireless network device, to the first probe request frame at the first transmit power if the signal transmission strength of the terminal is greater than the preset strength and load of the wireless network device in the first frequency band is less than a first preset threshold.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the preferentially responding, by the wireless network device, to the second probe request frame at the second transmit power if the signal transmission strength of the terminal is less than the preset strength comprises:

responding, by the wireless network device, to the second probe request frame at the second transmit power if the signal transmission strength of the terminal is less than the preset strength and load of the wireless network device in the second frequency band is less than a second preset threshold.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises:

selecting a terminal that supports the second frequency band and whose signal transmission strength is the smallest from terminals connected to the first frequency band of the wireless network device, to put the terminal offline, when the load of the wireless network device in the first frequency band is greater than or equal to the first preset threshold and the load of the wireless network device in the second frequency band is less than the second preset threshold; and

selecting a terminal that supports the first frequency band and whose signal transmission strength is the greatest from terminals connected to the second frequency band of the wireless network device, to put the terminal offline, when the load of the wireless network device in the second frequency band is greater than or equal to the second preset threshold and the load of the wireless network device in the first frequency band is less than the first preset threshold; and

after the receiving the first probe request frame and the second probe request frame, the method further comprises;

responding to the second probe request frame, when the terminal is a terminal that is put offline in the first frequency band; and

responding to the first probe request frame, when the terminal is a terminal that is put offline in the second frequency band.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein after the receiving, by a wireless network device in a first frequency band, a first probe request frame sent by a terminal, when the second probe request frame sent by the terminal in the second frequency band is not received within a preset time period, the method further comprises:

responding to the first probe request frame at a third transmit power if the signal transmission strength of the terminal is less than the preset strength, wherein the third transmit power is higher than the first transmit power.

6. A wireless network device, comprising a first radio frequency (RF) circuit, a second RF circuit, and a processor, wherein:

the first RF circuit is configured to support a first frequency band;

the second RF circuit is configured to support a second frequency band, a quantity of non-overlapping channels in the first frequency band is less than a quantity of non-overlapping channels in the second frequency band;

the processor is configured to;

receive, in the first frequency band using the first RF circuit, a first probe request frame sent by a terminal, and receive, in the second frequency band using the second RF circuit, a second probe request frame sent by the terminal, and

preferentially respond to the first probe request frame, using the first RF circuit at the first transmit power, if a signal transmission strength of the terminal is greater than a preset strength; and

respond to the second probe request frame, using the second RF circuit at the second transmit power, if the signal transmission strength of the terminal is less than the preset strength, and

wherein the first transmit power is lower than the second transmit power.

7. The wireless network device according to claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to respond to the first probe request frame, using the first RF circuit at the first transmit power, if the signal transmission strength of the terminal is greater than the preset strength and load in the first frequency band is less than a first preset threshold.

8. The wireless network device according to claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to respond to the second probe request frame, using the second RF circuit at the second transmit power, if the signal transmission strength of the terminal is less than the preset strength and load in the second frequency band is less than a second preset threshold.

9. The wireless network device according to claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to:

select a terminal that supports the second frequency band and whose signal transmission strength is the smallest from terminals connected to the first frequency band, to put the terminal offline, when the load in the first frequency band is greater than or equal to the first preset threshold and the load in the second frequency band is less than the second preset threshold;

select a terminal that supports the first frequency band and whose signal transmission strength is the greatest from terminals connected to the second frequency band, to put the terminal offline, when the load in the second frequency band is greater than or equal to the second preset threshold and the load in the first frequency band is less than the first preset threshold;

respond to the second probe request frame, if the terminal is a terminal that is put offline in the first frequency band, when the first probe request frame of the terminal is received and the second probe request frame of the terminal is received; and

respond to the first probe request frame, if the terminal is a terminal that is put offline in the second frequency band, when the first probe request frame of the terminal is received and the second probe request frame of the terminal is received.

10. The wireless network device according to claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to:

respond to the first probe request frame at a third transmit power if the second probe request frame sent by the terminal in the second frequency band is not received, within a preset time period, after receiving the first probe request frame sent by the terminal, and the signal transmission strength of the terminal is less than the preset strength, wherein the third transmit power is higher than the first transmit power.