CN104125623B - WLAN finds method, controller, user equipment and network access equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

An embodiment of the present invention provides a wireless local area network discovery method, a controller, a user equipment, and a network access device. The method includes: generating a scan trigger message, where the scan trigger message carries a scan mode, and the scan mode is an active scan mode or a passive scan mode; Sending a scanning trigger message to the user equipment, so that the user equipment scans at least one network access device of the wireless local area network WLAN according to the scanning mode, so as to prevent a large number of user equipment from actively scanning for wireless local area network discovery, causing signaling storms, and causing network congestion. Moreover, for user equipment that does not support Wi-Fi measurement or has low measurement accuracy, it can be set to only use the active scanning mode, and the Wi-Fi measurement work is performed by the network access device to avoid that the user equipment does not support Wi-Fi measurement or Effective wireless local area network discovery cannot be performed due to the low measurement accuracy of the user equipment.

Description

Wireless local area network discovery method, controller, user equipment and network access equipment

technical field

The embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of wireless communication, and in particular to a wireless local area network discovery method, controller, user equipment and network access equipment.

Background technique

A user equipment (User Equipment, UE for short) adopts a wireless fidelity (Wireless Fidelity, Wi-Fi for short) technology to establish a connection with a wireless access point (Access Point, AP for short) to access a wireless local area network (Wireless Local Area, WLAN for short). Specifically, the UE has a built-in Wi-Fi module. To access the WLAN, the UE first needs to scan to find out whether there is an available WLAN nearby. There are two scanning methods: active scanning and passive scanning. When using active scanning, the UE sends a probe request frame (Probe Request) through the Wi-Fi module, and receiving the probe request frame triggers the probe response frame (Probe Response) sent by the AP to detect whether there is an available WLAN nearby; when using passive scanning , the UE receives the beacon frame (Beacon, usually sent once every 100ms) periodically sent by the AP through the Wi-Fi module to discover whether there is an available WLAN nearby. Since the WLAN network only covers the hotspot range, there is still no WLAN network coverage in many places, and most of the deployed WLAN networks do not support UE handover between different WLAN networks. Therefore, if the UE's Wi-Fi module is always on, even when there is no service, the UE's Wi-Fi module will often detect whether there is a WLAN network nearby, resulting in high power consumption of the UE and reducing the standby time. However, if the Wi-Fi module of the UE is turned off, many opportunities to discover the WLAN network are lost.

In the prior art, to solve the above problems, when the controller detects that the UE has services, it obtains the service set identifier (SSID for short) of the candidate AP according to the location information of the UE or the cell identity (Cell Identity, Cell ID for short). ) and send it to the UE, which triggers the UE to perform active scanning according to the received SSID, and sends a probe request frame carrying the SSID in one or more channels, and each AP corresponding to the SSID sends a probe response after receiving the probe request frame frame, the UE obtains the signal strength (Received Signal Strength Indicator, RSSI for short) of each AP by measuring the probe response frame, and then reports the RSSI and the Basic Service set identifier (BSSID for short) of the corresponding AP to the controller. The controller selects an AP suitable for UE access according to the RSSI, and sends the BSSID corresponding to the selected AP to the UE to notify the UE of access.

During the above AP discovery process, the Wi-Fi module of the UE actively scans for candidate APs. However, in different network conditions, suitable scanning methods may be different. If a large number of UEs discover APs through active scanning, it may cause signaling storms and network congestion.

Contents of the invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a wireless local area network discovery method, controller, user equipment, and network access equipment, so that the user equipment uses a suitable scanning method to discover network access equipment, and avoids signaling caused by a large number of UEs actively scanning for wireless local area network discovery. Storms, causing network congestion.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for discovering a wireless local area network, including:

generating a scan trigger message, where the scan trigger message carries a scan mode, where the scan mode is an active scan mode or a passive scan mode;

Sending the scanning trigger message to the user equipment, so that the user equipment scans at least one network access device of the wireless local area network WLAN according to the scanning mode.

In a first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method further includes:

When the scan mode is the active scan mode, send active scan response condition information to the at least one network access device, so that the at least one network access device determines whether to act as the active scan response condition information according to the active scan response condition information The target network access device of the user equipment.

In a second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, after sending the scan trigger message to the user equipment, further include:

receiving measurement information, where the measurement information is first measurement information obtained by measuring a first measurement signal sent by the user equipment in the active scanning mode by the at least one network access device; or, the measurement information second measurement information obtained by measuring the second measurement signal sent by the at least one network access device by the user equipment in the passive scanning mode;

Selecting a target network access device for the user equipment according to the measurement information;

Sending an access indication response message to the at least one network access device.

With reference to the second possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the selecting a target network access device for the user equipment according to the measurement information includes :

Selecting a target network access device for the user equipment according to the measurement information, and at least one of the network status information of the at least one network access device and the service status information of the user equipment.

In combination with the second or third possible implementation of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the first aspect, the method further includes:

Sending an access message to the user equipment, where the access message carries identification information of the target network access device, so that the user equipment accesses the target network access device according to the identification information.

With reference to the first aspect, any one of the first to fourth possible implementations of the first aspect, in a fifth possible implementation of the first aspect, the scan trigger message At least one of the following information is also carried: the service set identifier, the basic service set identifier, and the channel of the at least one network access device.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for discovering a wireless local area network, including:

receiving a scan trigger message sent by the controller, where the scan trigger message carries a scan mode, and the scan mode is an active scan mode or a passive scan mode;

Scan at least one network access device of the wireless local area network WLAN according to the scanning mode.

In a first possible implementation of the second aspect, the method further includes:

When the scanning mode is the active scanning mode, sending a first measurement signal to the at least one network access device, so that the at least one network access device measures the first measurement signal to obtain a first measurement information.

In a second possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the method further includes:

When the scanning mode is the passive scanning mode, receiving a second measurement signal sent by the at least one network access device, and measuring the second measurement signal to obtain second measurement information;

sending the second measurement information to the controller.

In combination with the first possible implementation of the second aspect, in a third possible implementation of the second aspect, the method further includes:

receiving target network access device indication information sent by the at least one network access device, where the target network access device indication information is the at least one network access device according to the received active scanning response condition information and the first Measurement information, which is sent after it is determined that it can be used as a target network access device.

In combination with the first or second possible implementation of the second aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the second aspect, the method further includes:

receiving an access message sent by the controller, where the access message carries identification information of the target network access device;

Access the target network access device according to the identification information.

With reference to the second aspect, any one of the first to fourth possible implementations of the second aspect, in a fifth possible implementation of the second aspect, the scan trigger message At least one of the following information is also carried: the service set identifier, the basic service set identifier, and the channel of the at least one network access device.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for discovering a wireless local area network, including:

receiving a first measurement signal sent by the user equipment in active scanning mode;

measuring the first measurement signal to obtain first measurement information;

Determine whether to serve as the target network access device of the user equipment according to the first measurement information.

In a first possible implementation manner of the third aspect, before determining whether to serve as the target network access device of the user equipment according to the first measurement information, the method further includes:

Receive the active scanning response condition information sent by the controller;

The determining whether to serve as the target network access device of the user equipment according to the first measurement information includes:

Determine whether to serve as the target network access device of the user equipment according to the active scanning response condition and the first measurement information.

In a second possible implementation manner of the third aspect, the determining whether to serve as the target network access device of the user equipment according to the first measurement information includes:

sending the first measurement information to a controller;

receiving an access indication response message sent by the controller, where the access indication response message is sent after the controller determines whether it can be used as a target network access device according to the first measurement information.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a controller, including:

A generating module, configured to generate a scan trigger message, where the scan trigger message carries a scan mode, and the scan mode is an active scan mode or a passive scan mode;

The first sending module is configured to send the scanning trigger message to the user equipment, so that the user equipment scans at least one network access device of the wireless local area network WLAN according to the scanning mode.

In a first possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the controller further includes:

A second sending module, configured to send active scanning response condition information to the at least one network access device when the scanning mode is the active scanning mode, so that the at least one network access device responds according to the active scanning Condition information, determining whether to serve as the target network access device of the user equipment.

In a second possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the controller further includes:

A receiving module, configured to receive measurement information, where the measurement information is first measurement information obtained by measuring the first measurement signal sent by the user equipment in the active scanning mode by the at least one network access device; or , the measurement information is second measurement information obtained by measuring the second measurement signal sent by the at least one network access device by the user equipment in the passive scanning mode;

a selection module, configured to select a target network access device for the user equipment according to the measurement information;

A third sending module, configured to send an access indication response message to the at least one network access device.

With reference to the second possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the fourth aspect, the selection module is further configured to: according to the measurement information and the at least one network interface Selecting a target network access device for the user equipment based on at least one of the network status information of the access device and the service status information of the user equipment.

With reference to the second or third possible implementation of the fourth aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the fourth aspect, the first sending module is further configured to send the access message, where the access message carries identification information of the target network access device, so that the user equipment accesses the target network access device according to the identification information.

In combination with the fourth aspect, any one of the first to fourth possible implementations of the fourth aspect, in the fifth possible implementation of the fourth aspect, the scan trigger message At least one of the following information is also carried: the service set identifier, the basic service set identifier, and the channel of the at least one network access device.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a user equipment, including:

The first receiving module is configured to receive a scan trigger message sent by the controller, where the scan trigger message carries a scan mode, and the scan mode is an active scan mode or a passive scan mode;

A scanning module, configured to scan at least one network access device of the wireless local area network WLAN according to the scanning mode.

In a first possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the user equipment further includes:

A first sending module, configured to send a first measurement signal to the at least one network access device when the scanning mode is the active scanning mode, so that the at least one network access device performs a measurement on the first The measurement signal is measured to obtain first measurement information.

In a second possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect, the user equipment further includes:

A second receiving module, configured to receive a second measurement signal sent by the at least one network access device when the scanning mode is the passive scanning mode, and measure the second measurement signal to obtain second measurement information ;

A second sending module, configured to send the second measurement information to the controller.

With reference to the first possible implementation of the fifth aspect, in a third possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the first receiving module is further configured to:

receiving target network access device indication information sent by the at least one network access device, where the target network access device indication information is the at least one network access device according to the received active scanning response condition information and the first Measurement information, which is sent after it is determined that it can be used as a target network access device.

With reference to the first or second possible implementation of the fifth aspect, in a fourth possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the first receiving module is further configured to:

receiving an access message sent by the controller, where the access message carries identification information of the target network access device;

Access the target network access device according to the identification information.

With reference to the fifth aspect, any one of the first to fourth possible implementations of the fifth aspect, in the fifth possible implementation of the fifth aspect, the scan trigger message At least one of the following information is also carried: the service set identifier, the basic service set identifier, and the channel of the at least one network access device.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a network access device, including:

The first receiving module is configured to receive the first measurement signal sent by the user equipment in the active scanning mode;

a measurement module, configured to measure the first measurement signal to obtain first measurement information;

A determining module, configured to determine whether to serve as the target network access device of the user equipment according to the first measurement information.

In a first possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the network access device further includes:

The second receiving module is used to receive the active scanning response condition information sent by the controller;

The determining module is configured to determine whether to serve as the target network access device of the user equipment according to the active scan response condition and the first measurement information.

In a second possible implementation manner of the sixth aspect, the determining module is specifically configured to:

sending the first measurement information to a controller;

receiving an access indication response message sent by the controller, where the access indication response message is sent after the controller determines whether the network access device can serve as the target network access device according to the first measurement information.

In the wireless local area network discovery method, controller, user equipment, and network access device provided in the embodiments of the present invention, after generating a scan trigger message for the user equipment, the controller sends a scan trigger message carrying a scan mode to the user equipment to trigger the user equipment to Nearby network access devices scan to avoid signaling storms caused by a large number of user devices actively scanning for wireless LAN discovery, causing network congestion. Moreover, for user equipment that does not support Wi-Fi measurement or has low measurement accuracy, it can be set to only use the active scanning mode, and the Wi-Fi measurement work is performed by the network access device, so as to obtain more accurate WLAN discovery.

Description of drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings that need to be used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the accompanying drawings in the following description These are some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can also be obtained according to these drawings without any creative effort.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of Embodiment 1 of a wireless local area network discovery method of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of Embodiment 2 of the wireless local area network discovery method of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of Embodiment 3 of the wireless local area network discovery method of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a signaling diagram of Embodiment 4 of the wireless local area network discovery method of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a signaling diagram of Embodiment 5 of the wireless local area network discovery method of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a signaling diagram of Embodiment 6 of the wireless local area network discovery method of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a signaling diagram of Embodiment 7 of the wireless local area network discovery method of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a signaling diagram of Embodiment 8 of a wireless local area network discovery method according to the present invention;

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 1 of the controller of the present invention;

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 2 of the controller of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 1 of user equipment according to the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 2 of the user equipment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 1 of a network access device according to the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 2 of a network access device according to the present invention.

Detailed ways

In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments It is a part of embodiments of the present invention, but not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by persons of ordinary skill in the art without making creative efforts belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of Embodiment 1 of a method for discovering a wireless local area network according to the present invention. This embodiment is executed by a controller, and is applicable to a scenario where there may be multiple network access devices in the communication network and the user equipment is required to discover the network access devices. Specifically, this embodiment includes the following steps:

101. Generate a scan trigger message, where the scan trigger message carries a scan mode, where the scan mode is an active scan mode or a passive scan mode.

If the user device needs to access the WLAN network, it needs to discover nearby and accessible network access devices, such as wireless access points (Access Point, referred to as AP), and can only access the network after authentication and association with the network access device. WLAN network. The process that the user equipment obtains the information of the network access equipment is called WLAN discovery. In this step, the controller generates a scanning trigger message carrying a scanning mode for the user equipment, and triggers the user equipment to scan nearby network access devices, wherein the scanning mode is an active scanning mode or a passive scanning mode.

Specifically, before generating the scanning trigger message, the controller may first determine the wireless local area network scanning mode of the user equipment. Generally, the scanning modes applicable to different states of the communication network may be different. In the passive scanning mode, the UE does not send any data packets, but only receives the beacon frames (Beacon) periodically sent by the network equipment. Therefore, if the load of the network access equipment It is relatively heavy. When the preset threshold value is exceeded, the controller notifies the user equipment to adopt the active scanning mode; scanning. Alternatively, the controller may also determine the scanning mode of the wireless local area network discovery of the user equipment according to the number of user equipments performing wireless local area network discovery in the communication network. For example, when the number of user equipments that need to perform WLAN discovery in the communication network exceeds a preset threshold, all or some user equipments are notified to adopt the passive scanning mode; otherwise, the user equipments are notified to adopt the active scanning mode. In addition, for a specific user equipment, it can be set in advance to adopt passive scanning mode or active scanning mode. For example, for a user equipment that supports Wi-Fi measurement and has high measurement accuracy, it can be set to adopt passive scanning mode or active scanning mode. mode, and for user equipment that does not support Wi-Fi measurement or has low measurement accuracy, it can be set to only use the active scanning mode.

102. Send a scanning trigger message to the user equipment, so that the user equipment scans at least one network access device of the wireless local area network WLAN according to a scanning mode.

After the scan trigger message is generated for the user equipment, the controller sends the scan trigger message to the user equipment, for example, by carrying the scan trigger message in an Internet Protocol (Internet Protocol, referred to as IP) packet through the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (the3rd The Radio Access Network (RAN for short) of the Generation Partnership Project (3GPP for short) is sent to the user equipment, or the scan trigger message is carried in the cellular signaling, such as the radio resource control message (Radio resource control, RRC for short) sent to the user equipment through the 3GPP RAN. The controller can be an independent network element, or a module added to an existing network element in 3GPP. For example, the function of the controller can be upgraded by upgrading the wireless network controller of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) (Radio Network Controller, RNC for short) or Long Time Evolution (LTE for short) evolved Node B (Evolution Node B, eNB for short).

In the wireless local area network discovery method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, after generating a scan trigger message for the user equipment, the controller sends a scan trigger message carrying a scan mode to the user equipment, triggering the user equipment to scan nearby network access devices, avoiding a large number of The signaling storm caused by the active scanning of the user equipment for WLAN discovery causes network congestion. Moreover, for user equipment that does not support Wi-Fi measurement or has low measurement accuracy, it can be set to only use the active scanning mode, and the Wi-Fi measurement work is performed by the network access device, so as to obtain more accurate WLAN discovery.

Further, in the first embodiment above, if the controller determines that the communication network is suitable for the user equipment to adopt the active scanning mode, at this time, the network access device may decide whether it can be used as the target network access device of the user equipment. Specifically, when the scanning mode is the active scanning mode, the controller sends active scanning response condition information to at least one network access device, so that at least one network access device determines whether to be the target of the user equipment according to the active scanning response condition information Network access equipment.

Among them, the active scanning response condition information carries the conditions for the network access device to respond to the probe request frame (Probe Request) sent by the user equipment in active mode, for example, when the signal strength of the probe request frame must reach a certain threshold , the network access device sends a probe response frame (Probe Response) to respond. Furthermore, the above active scanning response condition information also includes requirements for some parameters such as the load of the network access device and service delay.

Further, in the first embodiment above, no matter whether the user equipment adopts the active scanning mode or the passive scanning mode, the controller can determine for the user equipment which network access device can be used as the target network access device. Specifically, after sending the scanning trigger message to the user equipment, the controller also receives measurement information, and selects a target network access device for the user equipment according to the measurement information. After the target network access device is determined for the user equipment, an access indication response message is sent to at least one network access device to indicate whether each network device can serve as the target network access device of the user equipment.

Wherein, the measurement information is specifically the first measurement information that at least one network access device measures and reports on the first measurement signal sent by the user equipment in the active scanning mode, for example, the network access device measures and reports the first measurement signal sent by the user equipment in the active scanning mode. The transmitted probe request frame (Probe Request) is obtained by performing signal strength (Received SignalStrength Indicator, RSSI for short) measurement or signal to noise ratio (Signal to Noise Ratio, short for short) measurement; or, the measurement information can also be the user equipment for the second measurement The signal is measured and reported as the second measurement message. Specifically, in the passive scanning mode, the user equipment receives a beacon frame (Beacon) periodically sent by at least one network access device, and performs signal strength measurement or The signal-to-noise ratio is measured to obtain second measurement information and send it to the controller.

After receiving the measurement information, the controller selects a target network access device for the user equipment according to the measurement information. The controller can immediately judge whether the network access device is suitable for user equipment access each time it receives the measurement information sent by the network access device or user equipment, so that the user equipment can access the network access device in time to access the WLAN network or, after receiving the first measurement information sent by all network access devices, or the second measurement information obtained by measuring the second measurement signals of each network access device sent by the user equipment, the controller may select Select the best network access device from among the network access devices for the user equipment to access; or, the controller may also select the best target network access device for the user equipment according to the received measurement information after a certain period of time .

Generally speaking, the controller can use the network access device whose measurement information satisfies the access of the user equipment as the target network access device, for example, the network access device whose measurement information meets certain requirements, such as the signal strength or Alternatively, the controller selects the network access device with the best measurement information as the target network access device, for example, the network access device with the highest signal strength or the largest signal-to-noise ratio as the target network access device. into the device. Further, the controller can combine the network status information of the network access device, for example, select the network access device that can provide the largest bandwidth, the smallest service delay, or the lightest load as the target among the network access devices that satisfy the user equipment access Network access device; the controller can also combine the service status information of the user equipment, for example, according to the network status information and measurement information, determine the quality of service (Quality of Service, QoS for short) that the network access device can provide for the user equipment, and A network access device that satisfies the service quality of the user equipment service is used as a target network access device.

After determining the target network access device for the user equipment, the controller sends an access indication response message to each network access device, so that each network access device determines whether to respond to the user equipment according to the access indication response message. For example, when the user equipment adopts the active scanning mode, the controller sends an access indication response message indicating that the target network access device responds to the probe request frame (Probe Request) of the user equipment to the determined target network access device; Other network access devices other than the target network access device send access indication response messages indicating that these network access devices do not respond to the probe request frame (Probe Request) of the user equipment.

In addition, after determining the target network access device for the user equipment, the controller also sends an access message to the user equipment, and the access message carries identification information of the target network access device, so that the user equipment can access the target network access device according to the identification information. Network access equipment. Specifically, the controller may carry the access message in the IP data packet and send it to the user equipment through the 3GPP RAN, or carry the access message in cellular signaling, such as a radio resource control (Radio Resource Control, RRC for short) message It is sent to the user equipment through the 3GPP RAN, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

Wherein, the identification information of the target network access device may include a Service Set Identifier (SSID for short), a Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID for short), and a channel (Channel) of the target network access device. Among them, the service set identifier is the network identifier of the network access device, which may be the same service set identifier shared by multiple network access devices; the basic service set identifier is the identity identifier of the network access device, usually the Wi-Fi of the network access device. - Media Access Control Address (MAC Add) of the Fi module; the channel is the working channel/frequency point of the network access device, Wi-Fi can work in multiple frequency bands, and each frequency band is divided into Multiple channels/frequency points. The user equipment can send a probe request frame carrying a service set identifier or a basic service set identifier on a specific channel/frequency point according to the above identification information of the target network access device, and access the target network access device after receiving the probe response .

Further, in the first embodiment above, in order to enable the user equipment to scan only specified network access devices, for example, if there are several network access devices in the communication network, the load of two of the network access devices is relatively light, and the other The loads of the network access devices are relatively heavy, and the user equipment may be designated to scan only the two light-loaded network access devices. At this time, the scan trigger message may also carry the service set identifier (SSID for short) or basic service set identifier (BSSID for short) of the network access device, so that the user equipment only into the device to scan. In order to prevent the user equipment from scanning on the working channel of other network access devices and affect the service transmission of other network access devices, the scan trigger message can also carry the channel (channel) information of the network access device, which indicates the specified The channel on which the network access device works, so that the user equipment only scans the channel indicated by the channel information.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of Embodiment 2 of the wireless local area network discovery method of the present invention. This embodiment is executed by a user equipment, and is applicable to a scenario where there may be multiple network access devices in the communication network, and the user equipment is required to discover the network access devices. Specifically, this embodiment includes the following steps:

201. Receive a scan trigger message sent by a controller, where the scan trigger message carries a scan mode, and the scan mode is an active scan mode or a passive scan mode.

The user equipment receives a scanning trigger message carrying a scanning mode sent by the controller, and the scanning mode is an active scanning mode or a passive scanning mode. For details, refer to Step 101 in Embodiment 1 of FIG. 1 , which will not be repeated here.

202. Scan at least one network access device of a wireless local area network WLAN according to a scanning mode.

The user equipment scans the network access equipment in the communication network according to the scanning mode. Specifically, if the scanning mode is an active scanning mode, the user equipment sends a first measurement signal to at least one network access device, so that at least one network access device measures the first measurement signal to obtain first measurement information, wherein, The first measurement signal may be a probe request frame (Probe Request), and the first measurement information specifically includes identification information (such as MACAdd) of the user equipment, signal strength information or signal-to-noise ratio information of the first measurement signal, and the like. After obtaining the first measurement information, the network access device may report the first measurement information to the controller, and the controller determines whether the network access device can be used as a target network access device of the user equipment according to the first measurement information; or The network access device may also receive the active scan response condition information sent by the controller, and determine whether it can be used as the target network access device of the user equipment according to the active scan response condition and the first measurement information. If possible, send target network access device indication information to the user equipment, and the user equipment receives the target network access device indication information, and accesses the network access device to access the WLAN network according to the target network access device indication information.

If the scanning mode is the passive scanning mode, the user equipment receives a second measurement signal sent by at least one network access device, measures the second measurement signal to obtain second measurement information, and sends the second measurement information to the controller, wherein the first The second measurement signal can be a beacon frame (Beacon) periodically sent by the network access device. The user equipment measures the beacon frame sent by each network access device to obtain the second measurement information. The second measurement information specifically includes the network Identification information (such as BSSID or SSID, etc.) of the access device, signal strength information or signal-to-noise ratio information of the second measurement signal, and the like.

In this embodiment, if the target network access device is determined by the controller for the user equipment according to the received first measurement information or second measurement information, after the controller determines the target network access device for the user equipment, it sends The user equipment sends an access message carrying the identification information of the target network access device, the user equipment receives the access message, and accesses the target network access device according to the access message to access the WLAN network.

In the wireless local area network discovery method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the user equipment uses a suitable scanning mode to scan the network access devices in the communication network according to the scanning trigger message carrying the specific scanning mode sent by the controller, so as to prevent a large number of UEs from actively scanning WLAN discovery results in signaling storms and network congestion. For user equipment that does not support Wi-Fi measurement or has low measurement accuracy, only the active scanning mode can be used, so that the Wi-Fi measurement work is performed by the network access device for more accurate WLAN discovery. In addition, in this embodiment, in the active scanning mode, the network access device, such as the AP, performs the measurement, which has high measurement accuracy and can avoid the increase of energy consumption caused by the user equipment's measurement of the network access device.

Further, in the second embodiment above, in order to enable the user equipment to scan only specified network access devices, for example, if there are several network access devices in the communication network, the load of two of the network access devices is relatively light, and the other The loads of the network access devices are relatively heavy, and the user equipment may be designated to scan only the two light-loaded network access devices. At this time, the scan trigger message may also carry the service set identifier (SSID for short) or basic service set identifier (BSSID for short) of the network access device, so that the user equipment only into the device to scan. In order to prevent the user equipment from scanning on the working channel of other network access devices and affect the service transmission of other network access devices, the scan trigger message can also carry the channel (channel) information of the network access device, which indicates the specified The network accesses the working channel of the device, so that the user equipment only scans on the channel indicated by the channel information.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of Embodiment 3 of the wireless local area network discovery method of the present invention. The execution subject of this embodiment is a network access device, and is applicable to a scenario where it is necessary to determine whether to serve as a target network access device of the user equipment when the user equipment adopts an active scanning mode. Specifically, this embodiment includes the following steps:

301. Receive a first measurement signal sent by a user equipment in an active scanning mode.

The network access device receives the first measurement signal sent by the user equipment in the active scanning mode, for example, after the user equipment receives the scanning trigger information carrying the active scanning mode, it sends the first measurement signal to the network access device, such as detecting A request frame (Probe Request), the network access device receives the first measurement signal.

302. Measure the first measurement signal to obtain first measurement information.

After receiving the first measurement signal, the network access device measures the first measurement signal to obtain first measurement information. The first measurement information specifically includes user equipment identification information (such as MAC Add), the first measurement signal Signal strength information or signal-to-noise ratio information, etc.

303. Determine whether to serve as a target network access device of the user equipment according to the first measurement information.

The network access device may determine whether it can serve as a target network access device of the user equipment according to the first measurement information, or may send the first measurement information to the controller, and the controller determines whether the network access device can serve as a target network access device The target network access device of the user equipment.

Specifically, the network access device may receive the active scanning response condition information sent by the controller, and after obtaining the first measurement information, determine whether it is the target network access device of the user equipment according to the active scanning response condition and the first measurement information, If the network access device judges that it can be used as the target network access device of the user equipment, it will send target network access device indication information to the user equipment, such as sending a probe response frame (Probe Response), to respond to the probe request frame of the user equipment , so that the user equipment accesses the network access device to access the WLAN network; otherwise, the network access device does not respond to the user equipment. Or, after obtaining the first measurement information, the network access device sends the first measurement information to the controller, so that the controller determines whether the network access device can be used as the target network access device according to the first measurement information, if the controller It is determined that the network access device can be used as the target network access device of the user equipment, and then sends an access indication response message to the network access device, and the network access device responds to the user equipment according to the access indication response message, such as sending Probe Response.

In the wireless local area network discovery method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, when the user equipment adopts the active scanning mode, the network access device measures the first measurement signal sent by the user equipment to obtain the first measurement information, and the network access device obtains the first measurement information according to the first measurement information and the active scanning response condition information sent by the controller to determine whether it can be used as the target network access device of the user equipment; or, the network access device reports the first measurement information to the controller, and the controller determines whether the network access device is It can be used as the target network access device of the user equipment. In this embodiment, the network access device measures the first measurement signal, and the measurement accuracy is high, so that the best network access device can be selected for the user equipment and energy consumption increase caused by the user equipment's measurement can be avoided.

FIG. 4 is a signaling diagram of Embodiment 4 of the wireless local area network discovery method of the present invention. In this embodiment, the present invention is described in detail by taking the controller to determine to scan two network access devices in the communication network in active scanning mode as an example. In this embodiment, the network access device is specifically a wireless access point AP, and 3GPP RAN-related signaling is sent through cellular control information, and the controller processes the measurement information received within a predetermined time period at one time. Specifically, this embodiment includes the following steps:

401. The controller sends a scan trigger message to the user equipment.

Specifically, this step includes the following sub-steps:

4011. The controller sends a scan trigger message to the 3GPP RAN.

The scan trigger message carries an active scan mode. In addition, the controller sends the cellular identity of the user equipment, such as International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI for short), Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (TMSI for short), etc., together with the scan trigger message to 3GPP RAN, so that the 3GPP RAN carries the scan trigger message in cellular control signaling, such as Radio Resource Control (RRC), according to the cellular identity of the user equipment, and sends it to the user equipment, so that the user equipment receives the scan trigger After the message, scan according to the scan trigger message.

Further, in order to enable the user equipment to scan only specified network access devices, for example, in this embodiment, the scan trigger message may also carry the service set identifier (Service set identifier, SSID for short) or basic service set of the network access device Identification (Basic Service set identifier, BSSID for short), etc., so that the user equipment only scans the specified network access equipment.

Further, in order to prevent the user equipment from scanning on the working channel of other network access devices and affect the service transmission of other network access devices, the scan trigger message can also carry the channel (channel) information of the network access device, the channel information Indicates the channel on which the specified network access device works, so that the user equipment only scans on the channel indicated by the channel information.

In order to clearly illustrate the present invention, the scan message carries the SSID and channel of the access point as an example to describe in detail below. However, in an actual implementation, one or more pieces of information of the network access device may be carried according to requirements, or, Scan all network access devices within the scannable range without carrying any information.

4012. The 3GPP RAN sends cellular control signaling to the user equipment.

3GPP RAN is a general term for access network elements in mobile cellular systems. The corresponding network elements may be different in different mobile cellular systems, such as the base station (Base Station) in the Global System for Mobile (GSM) Station, BS for short), Node B (Node B) in Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS for short), and Evolution Node B (eNB for short) in Long Term Evolution (LTE for short). etc., the present invention is not limited thereto. According to the received cellular identity of the user equipment, the 3GPP RAN carries the scanning trigger message in the cellular control signaling, such as a radio resource control message (Radio Resource Control, RRC for short) and sends it to the determined user equipment, triggering the user equipment to Network access devices to scan. Specifically, the cellular control signaling may also carry the SSID and channel of AP1 and AP2. Among them, AP1 and AP2 can use the same SSID, such as China Mobile (China Mobile Communication Corporation, CMCC for short), AP1 and AP2 have their own BSSID, and AP1 and AP2 are respectively in channel 1 and channel 1 of the Wi-Fi2.4G frequency band. 6 on work. In addition, for the sake of clarity, in the following embodiments, it is assumed that the SSIDs of AP1 and AP2 are the same, that AP1 works on channel 1 in the Wi-Fi 2.4G frequency band, and that AP2 works on channel 6 in the Wi-Fi 2.4G frequency band. An example is used to describe the embodiments of the present invention in detail. However, in other possible implementation manners, the SSIDs of the network access devices may also be different, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

402. The user equipment scans the network access device.

After receiving the cellular control signaling, the user equipment finds that the scanning mode is the active scanning mode, and only two channels need to be scanned, and then performs active scanning on the channels where AP1 and AP2 are located.

Specifically, this step includes the following sub-steps:

4021. The user equipment sends a first measurement signal on channel 1 of 2.4G where AP1 is located.

Specifically, the first measurement signal is a probe request frame (Probe Request). The probe request frame carries the SSID and the identity of the Wi-Fi measurement module of the user equipment, such as the media access control address of the user equipment, so that the controller can determine according to the identity of the Wi-Fi measurement module in the subsequent WLAN discovery process. To identify a specific user equipment, generally speaking, the identifier is unique.

4022. The user equipment sends the first measurement signal on channel 6 of 2.4G where AP2 is located.

Specifically, please refer to step 4021, which will not be repeated here.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned steps 4021 and 4022 are not in a strict order; alternatively, the controller may also set the priority of scanning channels, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present invention.

403. Measure the first measurement signal to obtain measurement information and report it to the controller.

Specifically, this step includes the following sub-steps:

4031. AP1 measures the first measurement signal received on its 2.4G channel 1 and reports it to the controller.

AP1 measures the received probe request frame (Probe Request). Specifically, AP1 obtains the signal strength (Received Signal Strength Indicator, RSSI for short) information or the Signal Noise Ratio (Signal Noise Ratio, SNR for short) of the probe request frame through measurement. ). In addition, AP1 also needs to obtain the identity of the Wi-Fi measurement module of the user equipment from the received probe request frame (ProbeRequest). After the measurement is completed, AP1 sends the measurement information and the identity of the Wi-Fi measurement module of the user equipment to the controller.

Furthermore, AP1 can carry its own network status information, such as load (Load) information, service delay information, user number (associated user number or active user number) information, etc. in the measurement information and send it to the controller.

4032. AP2 measures the first measurement signal received on channel 6 of 2.4G where it is located and reports to the controller.

Please refer to step 4031, which will not be repeated here.

It should be noted that there is no strict sequence for the above steps 4031 and 4032, and there is no strict sequence for steps 4012 and 4031, which is not limited by this embodiment of the present invention.

404. The controller selects a suitable target network access device for the user equipment.

After receiving the measurement information carrying the identity of the Wi-Fi measurement module of the user equipment, since the controller has pre-saved the corresponding relationship between the cellular identity of the user equipment and the identity of the Wi-Fi measurement module, according to the Wi-Fi By measuring the identity of the module, the controller can determine the corresponding user equipment. According to the measurement information reported by each network access device and the service status of the user equipment or the network status information of each network access device, select the target network access device for the user equipment, for example, the controller according to the load status information of the network access device and RRSI to estimate the transmission rate that the network access device can provide for the user equipment, and then judge whether the transmission rate can support the current service of the user equipment on the network side. If the current service of the user equipment requires a transmission rate of 2M/s, then The controller needs to select a network access device that can provide at least a 2M/s transmission rate as the target network access device from the measurement information reported by each network access device.

Wherein, the controller can obtain the corresponding relationship between the identity of the user equipment and the identity of the Wi-Fi measurement module from the subscription information of the user equipment; The corresponding relationship between the device identity and the identity of the Wi-Fi measurement module is sent to the controller; or, the user equipment carries the correspondence between the user equipment identity and the identity of the Wi-Fi measurement module in the cellular control signaling, through 3GPP RAN sends to the controller.

After selecting the target network access device, the controller sends an access indication response message to each network access device that has reported the measurement information, indicating whether each network access device responds to the first measurement signal of the user equipment. There may be multiple target network access devices suitable for user equipment access. Assuming that in this step, only AP1 is the target network access device, this step includes the following sub-steps:

4041. The controller sends an access indication response message (Response indication) to AP1.

The controller sends to AP1 an access indication response message indicating that AP1 responds to the first measurement signal of the user equipment.

4042. The controller sends an access indication response message (Response indication) to AP2.

The controller sends to AP2 an access indication response message indicating that AP2 does not respond to the first measurement signal of the user equipment.

It should be noted that the above steps 4041 and 4042 are not in a strict order, nor are steps 4032 and 4041 in a strict order, which is not limited by this embodiment of the present invention.

405. The controller sends an access message (AP Access request) to the 3GPP RAN.

After determining the target network access device AP1, the controller notifies the user equipment that the target network access device is AP1 through the 3GPP RAN. Specifically, the controller sends an AP Access request to the 3GPP RAN, which carries the SSID of AP1, the BSSID of AP1, and the working channel of AP1. The cellular identity of the user equipment is sent to the 3GPPRAN together with the access message. Please refer to step 4011 for its function, which will not be repeated here.

406. The 3GPP RAN sends cellular control signaling to the user equipment.

According to the cellular identity of the user equipment, the 3GPP RAN carries the access message in the cellular control signaling, such as a radio resource control message (Radio Resource Control, RRC for short), and sends it to the user equipment to determine the user equipment. Different from the cellular control signaling in step 4012, in this step, the cellular control signaling only carries the above-mentioned SSID of AP1, BSSID of AP1, and channel information on which AP1 works.

407. The user equipment sends a probe request frame (Probe Request) to AP1.

The user equipment determines the channel where AP1 works according to the SSID and BSSID of AP1 in the received cellular control signaling, and according to the channel information, and sends a detection request to AP1 on this channel, such as channel 1 of 2.4G frame.

408. AP1 sends a probe response frame (Probe response) to the user equipment.

409. The user equipment accesses AP1.

The user equipment is authenticated and associated with AP1, and the user equipment accesses AP1.

In the WLAN discovery method provided by this implementation, after the controller receives the measurement information of all network access devices within the scannable range of the user equipment within a certain period of time, or receives the measurement information of the network access devices scanned by the specified user, it starts from The best network access device is determined for the user equipment among the numerous network access devices for the user equipment to access.

FIG. 5 is a signaling diagram of Embodiment 5 of the wireless local area network discovery method of the present invention. The difference between this embodiment and the fourth embodiment in FIG. 4 above is that in this embodiment, the signaling related to 3GPP RAN can be carried in the IP packet and sent, specifically:

5011. The controller sends an IP packet carrying a scan trigger message to the 3GPP RAN.

5012. The 3GPP RAN sends an IP packet carrying a scan trigger message to the user equipment.

505. The controller sends an IP packet carrying an access message (AP Access request) to the 3GPP RAN.

506. The 3GPP RAN sends an IP packet carrying an access message (AP Access request) to the user equipment.

For steps 502-504, 507-509, please refer to Embodiment 4 in FIG. 4, and details are not repeated here.

FIG. 6 is a signaling diagram of Embodiment 6 of the wireless local area network discovery method of the present invention. The difference between this embodiment and the fourth embodiment in FIG. 4 is that in this embodiment, after receiving the measurement information reported by a network access device, the controller immediately decides whether the network access device needs to send in response to the first measurement signal. Specifically, this embodiment includes the following steps:

601. The controller sends a scan trigger message to the user equipment.

Specifically, this step includes the following sub-steps:

6011. The controller sends a scan trigger message to the 3GPP RAN.

6012. The 3GPP RAN sends cellular control signaling to the user equipment.

For the above steps 6011 and 6012, please refer to 4011 and 4012 of Embodiment 4 in FIG. 4 , and details are not repeated here.

Assuming that in this embodiment, the user equipment first scans the channel where AP1 is located, and then scans the channel where AP2 is located, then step 6021 is performed.

6021. The user equipment sends a first measurement signal on the channel where AP1 is located.

6031. AP1 measures the first measurement signal received on its channel and reports it to the controller.

6041. The controller sends an access indication response message (Response indication) to AP1.

The difference from the fourth embodiment in FIG. 4 above is that in the fourth embodiment, after receiving the measurement information reported by the network access device within a certain period of time, the controller selects a target network access device for the user equipment from a large number of network devices, However, in this embodiment, each time the user equipment scans a network access device, the network device measures the first measurement signal to obtain measurement information, and immediately reports the measurement information to the controller for decision-making by the controller. If the controller judges that the network access device is suitable for user equipment access, send an access indication response message to the network access device indicating that the network access device responds to the first measurement signal of the user equipment; otherwise, if the controller judges Then, the network equipment is not suitable for user equipment access, and sends an access indication response message that does not respond to the first measurement signal of the user equipment to the network access equipment.

Assume that in the above step 6041, the controller determines that AP1 is not suitable for user equipment access.

6022. The user equipment sends the first measurement signal on the channel where AP2 is located.

6032. AP2 measures the first measurement signal received on its channel and reports it to the controller.

6042. The controller sends an access indication response message (Response indication) to AP2.

Assume that in step 6042, the controller determines that AP2 can be used as the target network access device of the user equipment.

605. AP2 sends a probe response frame (Probe response) to the user equipment.

606. The user equipment accesses AP2.

In this embodiment, each time the controller receives the measurement information reported by a network access device, it immediately decides whether the network access device needs to respond to the first measurement signal sent by the user equipment. Since the target network access determined by the controller All access devices are suitable for user equipment access, therefore, the user equipment can select one of the network access devices that receive the probe response frame to access, or stop once it receives a probe response frame from a network access device Scanning and directly accessing the network access device does not require the controller to notify the user equipment of the target network access device through the 3GPP RAN, that is, in this embodiment, there is no need to perform the actions corresponding to steps 405-407 in Embodiment 4 as shown in Figure 4 .

In the wireless local area network discovery method provided by this implementation, after the controller receives the measurement information reported by a network access device, it immediately decides whether the network access device needs to respond to the first measurement signal sent by the user equipment. The network access device connected by the device instructs the network access device to respond to the detection request frame of the user equipment, so that the user equipment can access the network access device in time to access the WLAN network. Compared with the fourth embodiment, the wireless local area network discovers The speed is fast, but the determined network access device may not be the best network access device.

FIG. 7 is a signaling diagram of Embodiment 7 of the wireless local area network discovery method of the present invention. The difference between this embodiment and the sixth embodiment above is that in this embodiment, the controller sends active scan response condition information to each network access device, so that each network access device receives the first measurement sent by the user equipment. After receiving the signal, the network device measures the first measurement signal to obtain the measurement information, and determines whether it can be used as the target network access device of the user equipment according to the measurement information and active scanning response condition information, without reporting the measurement information to the controller. The controller makes decisions. Specifically, this embodiment includes the following steps:

700. The controller sends active scan response condition information (Response threshold) to the network access device.

The controller may send the active scan response condition information to each network access device within the scannable range of the user equipment, or send the active scan response condition information to a specified network access device. Wherein, the active scanning response condition information may be, for example, the signal strength RRSI or signal-to-noise ratio SNR of the probe request frame of the user equipment, and when the RRSI or SNR is greater than a certain threshold, a response is made; further, the response condition information may also include network access The load (Load) of the access device, when the load is less than the preset value, respond; or, when the transmission rate that the network access device can provide is not lower than a certain threshold, respond. If the specified network access devices in this embodiment are AP1 and AP2, then this step includes the following sub-steps:

7001. The controller sends active scanning response condition information to AP1.

7002. The controller sends active scan response condition information to AP2.

701. The controller sends a scan trigger message to the user equipment.

Specifically, this step includes the following sub-steps:

7011. The controller sends a scan trigger message to the 3GPP RAN.

7012. The 3GPP RAN sends cellular control signaling to the user equipment.

702. The user equipment scans the network access equipment

Specifically, this step includes the following sub-steps:

7021. The user equipment sends the first measurement signal on the channel where AP1 is located.

The user equipment scans AP1, and AP1 measures RSSI, SNR and other measurements on the first measurement signal to obtain measurement information, and judges whether the measurement information meets the active scanning response condition information, and if so, sends a target network access device indication to the user equipment message, such as sending a probe response frame to respond to the probe request frame sent by the user equipment; otherwise, the network access device does not respond to the probe request frame sent by the user equipment. Assume that AP1 judges that it does not meet the active scanning response condition, and does not respond to the user equipment.

7022. The user equipment sends the first measurement signal on the channel where AP2 is located.

In an actual implementation, the scanning order of AP1 and AP2 may be determined by the controller or the user equipment according to requirements.

703. AP2 sends a target network access device indication message (Probe response) to the user equipment.

If AP2 determines in step 7022 that it can be used as the target network access device of the user equipment, it sends a target network access device indication message to the user equipment.

704. The user equipment accesses AP2.

The user equipment performs authentication and association with AP2, and accesses the AP2 network WLAN network.

In the WLAN discovery method provided by this implementation, the controller sends active scanning response condition information (Response threshold) to the network access device. When the network access device receives the first measurement signal sent by the user equipment, that is, the broadcast request frame (Probe Request ), measure the first measurement signal to obtain measurement information, and judge whether the first measurement information meets the active scanning response conditions, so as to determine whether to respond to the user equipment, so that the user equipment can be connected in a timely manner according to the response of the network access device The network access device accesses the WLAN network. After the user equipment completes the scan according to the scan trigger information, select one of the responding network access devices to access, or, after receiving a response from a network access device, stop scanning and access the network access device for Access to WLAN networks.

FIG. 8 is a signaling diagram of Embodiment 8 of the wireless local area network discovery method of the present invention. The difference between this embodiment and the fourth to seventh embodiments above is that in this embodiment, the controller determines that the communication network is suitable for passive scanning. Specifically, this embodiment includes the following steps:

801. The controller sends a scan trigger message to the user equipment.

Specifically, this step includes the following sub-steps:

8011. The controller sends a scan trigger message to the 3GPP RAN.

8012. The 3GPP RAN sends cellular control signaling to the user equipment.

Specifically, for the above-mentioned steps 8011 and 8012, please refer to steps 4011 and 4012 in the fourth embodiment of FIG. 4 , which will not be repeated here.

802. The user equipment receives a second measurement signal sent by the network access device.

Assuming that in this embodiment, only AP1 and AP2 periodically send the second measurement signal on their respective working channels, this step includes the following sub-steps:

8021. AP1 sends a second measurement signal (Beacon frame) on its channel.

8022. The user equipment measures the second measurement signal sent by AP1.

8023. AP2 sends a second measurement signal (Beacon frame) on its channel.

8024. The user equipment measures the second measurement signal sent by AP2.

803. The user equipment reports the measurement results of the second measurement signals sent by each network access device to the controller.

The user equipment sends cellular control signaling to the 3GPP RAN, which carries the measurement result of the second measurement signal, and reports it to the controller through the 3GPP RAN.

804. The controller selects a suitable target network access device for the user equipment.

The controller selects a suitable target network access device for the user equipment according to the measurement information of each network access device reported by the user equipment, assuming that in this step, AP2 does not support the access of the user equipment, and AP1 supports the access of the user equipment, Then this step includes the following sub-steps:

8041. The controller sends an access indication response message (Response indication) to AP1.

The controller sends to AP1 an access indication response message indicating that AP1 responds to the probe request frame sent by the user equipment.

8042. The controller sends an access indication response message (Response indication) to AP2.

The controller sends to AP2 an access indication response message indicating that AP2 does not respond to the probe request frame of the user equipment.

805. The controller sends an access message (AP Access request) to the 3GPP RAN.

806. The 3GPP RAN sends cellular control signaling to the user equipment.

In this step, the cellular control signaling carries the SSID of AP1, the BSSID of AP1, and the working channel of AP1.

807. The user equipment sends a probe request frame to AP1 on the channel on which AP1 works.

808. AP1 sends a probe response frame to the user equipment.

809. The user equipment accesses AP1.

In the WLAN discovery method provided in this implementation, the communication network is suitable for passive scanning, and the user equipment measures the second measurement signal. Therefore, this embodiment is mainly applicable to the user equipment equipped with Wi-Fi measurement.

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 1 of the controller of the present invention. The controller provided in this embodiment can implement each step of the method applied to the controller provided in any embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, the controller provided in this embodiment specifically includes:

A generating module 11, configured to generate a scan trigger message, where the scan trigger message carries a scan mode, and the scan mode is an active scan mode or a passive scan mode;

The first sending module 12 is configured to send a scanning trigger message to the user equipment, so that the user equipment scans at least one network access device of the wireless local area network WLAN according to the scanning mode.

The controller provided by the embodiment of the present invention, after generating a scan trigger message for the user equipment, the controller sends a scan trigger message carrying a scan mode to the user equipment, triggering the user equipment to scan nearby network access devices, avoiding a large number of user equipment Both actively scan for WLAN discovery and cause signaling storms, causing network congestion. Moreover, for user equipment that does not support Wi-Fi measurement or has low measurement accuracy, it can be set to only use the active scanning mode, and the Wi-Fi measurement work is performed by the network access device, so as to obtain more accurate WLAN discovery.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 2 of the controller of the present invention. As shown in Figure 10, on the basis of the controller structure in Figure 9, the controller of this embodiment further includes:

The second sending module 13 is configured to send active scanning response condition information to at least one network access device when the scanning mode is the active scanning mode, so that at least one network access device determines whether to act as a user device according to the active scanning response condition The target network access device.

Referring to Figure 10 again, the controller also includes:

The receiving module 14 is configured to receive measurement information, the measurement information is the first measurement information obtained by at least one network access device measuring the first measurement signal sent by the user equipment in the active scanning mode; or, the measurement information is the user equipment in the active scanning mode. In the passive scanning mode, the second measurement information obtained by measuring the second measurement signal sent by at least one network access device;

A selection module 15, configured to select a target network access device for the user equipment according to the measurement information;

The third sending module 16 is configured to send an access indication response message to at least one network access device.

Further, the selection module 15 is further configured to: select a target network access device for the user equipment according to the measurement information, and at least one of network status information of at least one network access device and service status information of the user equipment.

Further, the first sending module 12 is also configured to send an access message to the user equipment, where the access message carries identification information of the target network access device, so that the user equipment can access the target network access device according to the identification information.

Further, the scan trigger message also carries at least one of the following information: an SSID, a basic SSID, and a channel list of at least one network access device.

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 1 of user equipment according to the present invention. The user equipment provided in this embodiment can implement each step of the method applied to the user equipment provided in any embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, the user equipment provided in this embodiment specifically includes:

The first receiving module 21 is configured to receive a scan trigger message sent by the controller, the scan trigger message carries a scan mode, and the scan mode is an active scan mode or a passive scan mode;

The scanning module 22 is configured to scan at least one network access device of the wireless local area network WLAN according to the scanning mode.

In the user equipment provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the user equipment scans the network access devices in the communication network by using an appropriate scanning mode according to the scanning trigger message carrying the specific scanning mode sent by the controller, so as to prevent a large number of UEs from actively scanning for wireless communication. LAN discovery leads to signaling storms, causing network congestion. For user equipment that does not support Wi-Fi measurement or has low measurement accuracy, only the active scanning mode can be used, so that the Wi-Fi measurement work is performed by the network access device for more accurate WLAN discovery. In addition, in this embodiment, in the active scanning mode, the network access device, such as the AP, performs the measurement, which has high measurement accuracy and can avoid the increase of energy consumption caused by the user equipment's measurement of the access point.

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 2 of the user equipment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 12, on the basis of the user equipment shown in FIG. 11, the user equipment provided by this embodiment further includes:

The first sending module 23 is configured to send a first measurement signal to at least one network access device when the scanning mode is an active scanning mode, so that at least one network access device measures the first measurement signal to obtain first measurement information .

Referring to Figure 12 again, the user equipment also includes:

The second receiving module 24 is configured to receive a second measurement signal sent by at least one network access device when the scanning mode is a passive scanning mode, and measure the second measurement signal to obtain second measurement information;

The second sending module 25 is configured to send the second measurement information to the controller.

Further, the first receiving module 21 is also configured to: receive target network access device indication information sent by at least one network access device, where the target network access device indication information is at least one network access device according to the received active scan response The condition information and the first measurement information are sent after it is determined that the target network access device can be used.

Further, the first receiving module 21 is further configured to: receive an access message sent by the controller, access the identification information carrying the target network access device; and access the target network access device according to the identification information.

Further, the scan trigger message also carries at least one of the following information: an SSID, a basic SSID, and a channel list of at least one network access device.

FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 1 of the network access device of the present invention. The network access device provided in this embodiment can implement various steps applied to the network access device when the user equipment adopts the active scanning mode in the embodiment of the present invention. Specifically, the network access device provided in this embodiment includes:

The first receiving module 31 is configured to receive a first measurement signal sent by the user equipment in active scanning mode;

A measurement module 32, configured to measure the first measurement signal to obtain first measurement information;

The determining module 33 is configured to determine whether to be the target network access device of the user equipment according to the first measurement information.

For the network access device provided by the embodiment of the present invention, when the user equipment adopts the active scanning mode, the network access device measures the first measurement signal sent by the user equipment to obtain the first measurement information, and the network access device obtains the first measurement information according to the first measurement information and the active scanning response condition information sent by the controller to determine whether it can be used as the target network access device of the user equipment; or, the network access device reports the first measurement information to the controller, and the controller determines whether the network access device is It can be used as the target network access device of the user equipment. In this embodiment, the network access device measures the first measurement signal, and the measurement accuracy is high, so that the best network access device can be selected for the user equipment and energy consumption increase caused by the user equipment's measurement can be avoided.

FIG. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of Embodiment 2 of a network access device according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 14, on the basis of the network access device shown in FIG. 13, the network access device of this embodiment further includes:

The second receiving module 34 is configured to receive the active scan response condition information sent by the controller;

A determining module 33, configured to determine whether to serve as the target network access device of the user equipment according to the active scanning response condition and the first measurement information;

Further, the determination module 33 is specifically configured to: send the first measurement information to the controller;

An access indication response message sent by the controller is received, where the access indication response message is sent by the controller after determining whether the network access device can be used as the target network access device according to the first measurement information.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than limiting them; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that: It is still possible to modify the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or perform equivalent replacements for some or all of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the technical solutions of the various embodiments of the present invention. scope.

Claims (18)

1. A method for wireless local area network discovery, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a controller generates a scanning trigger message, wherein the scanning trigger message carries a scanning mode, and the scanning mode is an active scanning mode or a passive scanning mode;

the controller sends the scanning trigger message to user equipment so that the user equipment scans at least one network access device of a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) according to the scanning mode;

when the scanning mode is an active scanning mode, the controller sends active scanning response condition information to the at least one network access device, so that the at least one network access device determines whether to serve as a target network access device of the user equipment according to the active scanning response condition information; or

The controller receives measurement information, where the measurement information is first measurement information obtained by the at least one network access device measuring a first measurement signal sent by the user equipment in the active scanning mode; or, the measurement information is second measurement information obtained by measuring, by the user equipment, a second measurement signal sent by the at least one network access device in the passive scanning mode;

selecting target network access equipment for the user equipment according to the measurement information;

and sending an access indication response message to the at least one network access device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting the target network access device for the user equipment according to the measurement information comprises:

and the controller selects target network access equipment for the user equipment according to the measurement information and at least one of the network state information of the at least one network access equipment and the service condition information of the user equipment.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

and the controller sends an access message to the user equipment, wherein the access message carries the identification information of the target network access equipment, so that the user equipment is accessed to the target network access equipment according to the identification information.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the scanning trigger message further carries at least one of the following information: a service set identification, a basic service set identification, a channel of the at least one network access device.

5. A method for wireless local area network discovery, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that user equipment receives a scanning trigger message sent by a controller, wherein the scanning trigger message carries a scanning mode, and the scanning mode is an active scanning mode or a passive scanning mode;

the user equipment scans at least one network access device of a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) according to the scanning mode;

when the scanning mode is the active scanning mode, the user equipment sends a first measurement signal to the at least one network access device, so that the at least one network access device measures the first measurement signal to obtain first measurement information;

when the scanning mode is the passive scanning mode, the user equipment receives a second measurement signal sent by the at least one network access device, and measures the second measurement signal to obtain second measurement information;

the user equipment sends the second measurement information to the controller.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

and the user equipment receives target network access equipment indication information sent by the at least one network access equipment, wherein the target network access equipment indication information is sent after the at least one network access equipment is determined to be capable of being used as the target network access equipment according to the received active scanning response condition information and the first measurement information.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

the user equipment receives an access message sent by the controller, wherein the access message carries identification information of target network access equipment;

and the user equipment accesses the target network access equipment according to the identification information.

8. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein the scanning trigger message further carries at least one of the following information: a service set identification, a basic service set identification, a channel of the at least one network access device.

9. A method for wireless local area network discovery, comprising:

the network access equipment receives a first measurement signal sent by user equipment in an active scanning mode;

the network access equipment measures the first measurement signal to obtain first measurement information;

the network access equipment receives the active scanning response condition information sent by the controller;

the network access equipment determines whether to serve as target network access equipment of the user equipment or not according to the active scanning response condition and the first measurement information; or,

the network access equipment sends the first measurement information to a controller;

and the network access equipment receives an access indication response message sent by the controller, wherein the access indication response message is sent after the controller determines whether the network access equipment can be used as target network access equipment according to the first measurement information.

10. A controller, comprising:

the scanning module is used for generating a scanning trigger message, wherein the scanning trigger message carries a scanning mode, and the scanning mode is an active scanning mode or a passive scanning mode;

a first sending module, configured to send the scanning trigger message to a user equipment, so that the user equipment scans at least one network access device of a wireless local area network WLAN according to the scanning mode;

a second sending module, configured to send active scanning response condition information to the at least one network access device when the scanning mode is an active scanning mode, so that the at least one network access device determines, according to the active scanning response condition information, whether to serve as a target network access device of the user equipment;

a receiving module, configured to receive measurement information, where the measurement information is first measurement information obtained by the at least one network access device measuring a first measurement signal sent by the user equipment in the active scanning mode; or, the measurement information is second measurement information obtained by measuring, by the user equipment, a second measurement signal sent by the at least one network access device in the passive scanning mode;

a selection module, configured to select a target network access device for the user equipment according to the measurement information;

a third sending module, configured to send an access indication response message to the at least one network access device.

11. The controller of claim 10, wherein the selection module is further configured to:

and selecting target network access equipment for the user equipment according to the measurement information and at least one of the network state information of the at least one network access equipment and the service condition information of the user equipment.

12. The controller according to claim 11, wherein the first sending module is further configured to send an access message to the user equipment, where the access message carries identification information of the target network access device, so that the user equipment accesses the target network access device according to the identification information.

13. The controller according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the scan trigger message further carries at least one of the following information: a service set identification, a basic service set identification, a channel of the at least one network access device.

14. A user device, comprising:

the device comprises a first receiving module, a second receiving module and a control module, wherein the first receiving module is used for receiving a scanning triggering message sent by a controller, the scanning triggering message carries a scanning mode, and the scanning mode is an active scanning mode or a passive scanning mode;

the scanning module is used for scanning at least one network access device of the wireless local area network WLAN according to the scanning mode;

a first sending module, configured to send a first measurement signal to the at least one network access device when the scanning mode is the active scanning mode, so that the at least one network access device measures the first measurement signal to obtain first measurement information;

a second receiving module, configured to receive a second measurement signal sent by the at least one network access device when the scanning mode is the passive scanning mode, and measure the second measurement signal to obtain second measurement information;

and the second sending module is used for sending the second measurement information to the controller.

15. The UE of claim 14, wherein the first receiving module is further configured to:

and receiving target network access equipment indication information sent by the at least one network access equipment, wherein the target network access equipment indication information is determined to be sent after the at least one network access equipment can be used as target network access equipment according to the received active scanning response condition information and the first measurement information.

16. The UE of claim 14, wherein the first receiving module is further configured to:

receiving an access message sent by the controller, wherein the access message carries identification information of target network access equipment;

and accessing the target network access equipment according to the identification information.

17. The UE of any one of claims 14 to 16, wherein the scan trigger message further carries at least one of the following information: a service set identification, a basic service set identification, a channel of the at least one network access device.

18. A network access device, comprising:

the first receiving module is used for receiving a first measuring signal sent by user equipment in an active scanning mode;

the measurement module is used for measuring the first measurement signal to obtain first measurement information;

the second receiving module is used for receiving the active scanning response condition information sent by the controller;

a determining module, configured to determine whether to serve as a target network access device of the ue according to the active scanning response condition and the first measurement information; or,

the determination module is to:

sending the first measurement information to a controller;

and receiving an access indication response message sent by the controller, wherein the access indication response message is sent after the controller determines whether the network access equipment can be used as target network access equipment according to the first measurement information.