CN118251908A - Mobility management method and device based on link coordination - Google Patents

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a mobility management method and device based on link coordination, which are applied to the technical field of wireless communication, wherein the method comprises the following steps: after establishing connection with the first multilink access device, reading a broadcast message from the first multilink access device, determining a switching access point according to the broadcast message, sending a first multilink reconfiguration request to the first multilink access device or the second multilink access device, receiving a first multilink reconfiguration response message sent by the first multilink access device or the second multilink access device, and establishing connection with the switching access point on a link corresponding to a target link. The method solves the problem that the current internet service is terminated due to long-time network interruption, and improves the internet smoothness.

Description

Mobility management method and device based on link coordination

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of wireless communications technologies, and in particular, to a mobility management method and apparatus based on link coordination.

Background

802.11 Networks, i.e., wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), enhance functionality through a range of system characteristics and a variety of mechanisms to achieve high wireless local area network throughput. As the use of Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) continues to grow, it is increasingly important to provide wireless data services in many environments, such as homes, businesses, and hotspots. In particular, video traffic will continue to be the dominant traffic type in many WLAN deployments. The throughput requirements of these applications are evolving due to the advent of 4k and 8k video (20 Gbps uncompressed rate). New high throughput, low latency applications such as virtual reality or augmented reality, gaming, remote offices, and cloud computing will proliferate (e.g., latency for real-time gaming is less than 5 milliseconds).

In view of the high throughput and stringent real-time delay requirements of these applications, users desire to support their applications over a WLAN with higher throughput, higher reliability, less delay, and higher power efficiency. The 802.11 network aims to ensure the competitiveness of WLAN by further improving the overall throughput and reducing the delay while ensuring backward compatibility and coexistence with legacy technology standards.

In a wlan, a terminal often moves, when the terminal moves from the coverage area of one wireless Access Point (AP) to the coverage area of another AP, a new AP is searched after the current AP is disconnected, so that the interruption time from disconnection to connection of the terminal is long, and the on-line service of the user is also terminated due to the long-time network terminal, which affects the on-line smoothness of the user.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a mobility management method and a mobility management device based on link coordination, which can solve the problem of longer interruption time from disconnecting an AP to connecting a new AP in the moving process of multi-terminal equipment.

In one aspect, the present application provides a mobility management method based on link coordination, which includes:

transmitting a connection request message to a first multilink access device;

receiving a connection response message sent by a first multi-link access device, wherein the connection response message indicates successful connection establishment;

reading a broadcast message from the first multi-link access device, wherein the first multi-link access device and the second multi-link access device belong to the same mobility management group; the broadcast message includes access point information of the second multi-link access device, the access point information indicates a link where an access point operates, and whether the link where the access point operates is a main link;

determining a switching access point from the access points of the second multi-link access equipment according to the broadcast message;

Transmitting a first multi-link reconfiguration request to the first multi-link access device or the second multi-link access device, wherein the first multi-link reconfiguration request message comprises any one or more of the following parameters: the reconfiguration type Reconfiguration type, the access point identification (AP ID), the terminal information (STA info); wherein Reconfiguration type is set to a first preset value, representing adding a link; the AP ID is set to be uniquely corresponding to the switching access point; the terminal information is set as information of a logic terminal operating on a link corresponding to a target link in the multi-link terminal; the target link is the link where the switching access point is located;

And receiving a first multilink reconfiguration response message sent by the first multilink access device or the second multilink access device, and establishing connection with the switching access point on a link corresponding to the target link.

In one embodiment, the target link is different from and is the primary link of the second multi-link access device.

In one embodiment, the handover access point satisfies a handover candidate condition; the switching candidate conditions are as follows: the measured value of the access point is more than or equal to a threshold value T2, the measured value of the access point is more than or equal to the main link signal strength of the first multi-link access device plus a threshold value T3, or the measured value of the access point is more than or equal to the main link signal strength of the first multi-link access device plus a threshold value T4, and the measured value of the access point is more than or equal to a threshold value T5.

In one embodiment, after the receiving the first multi-link reconfiguration response message sent by the first multi-link access device or the second multi-link access device, the method further includes:

Transmitting a second multilink reconfiguration request message to a second multilink access device, the second multilink reconfiguration request message including any one or more of the following parameters: the reconfiguration type Reconfiguration type and the access point identifier, wherein Reconfiguration type in the second multi-link reconfiguration request message is set to a second preset value to indicate that a link is deleted, and the access point identifier is set to the identifier of the access point of the first multi-link access device operating on the main link;

The second multilink reconfiguration request message is used for indicating the second multilink access device to send a notification message to the first multilink access device, reconfiguration type in the notification message is set to the second preset value, and the access point identifier is set to the identifier of the access point of the first multilink access device operating on the main link. In one embodiment, after the receiving the first multi-link reconfiguration response message sent by the first multi-link access device or the second multi-link access device, the method further includes:

And sending a second multi-link reconfiguration request message to the first multi-link access device, wherein the second multi-link reconfiguration request message comprises a reconfiguration type Reconfiguration type and an access point identifier (AP ID), reconfiguration type in the second multi-link reconfiguration request message is set to a second preset value to indicate that a link is deleted, and the AP ID is set to the identifier of the access point of the first multi-link access device operating on the main link.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

and sending a third multi-link reconfiguration request message to the second multi-link access device, wherein the third multi-link reconfiguration request message comprises a reconfiguration type Reconfiguration type and an access point identifier (AP ID), reconfiguration type in the third multi-link reconfiguration request message is set to a first preset value to represent adding a link, and the AP ID is set to the identifier of the access point of the first multi-link access device operating on the main link.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

if the signal intensity of the first multi-link access device is continuously lower than a threshold value T1 within a preset duration and the second multi-link access device meets a switching completion condition, triggering and executing the step of sending the second multi-link reconfiguration request message;

The handover completion condition includes: the signal intensity of the second multi-link access equipment is more than or equal to a threshold value T6, the signal intensity of the second multi-link access equipment is more than or equal to the main link signal intensity of the first multi-link access equipment plus a threshold value T7, or the signal intensity of the second multi-link access equipment is more than or equal to the main link signal intensity of the first multi-link access equipment plus a threshold value T8, and the signal intensity of the second multi-link access equipment is more than or equal to a threshold value T9.

In one embodiment, the first multi-link reconfiguration request is sent by the multi-link terminal to the first multi-link access device, where the first multi-link reconfiguration request is used to instruct the first multi-link access device to send a handover preparation message to the second multi-link access device, and send a first multi-link reconfiguration response message to the multi-link terminal after the second multi-link access device returns a handover preparation acknowledgement message indicating agreement;

or the first multi-link reconfiguration request is used for indicating the first multi-link access equipment to send a handover preparation message to the second multi-link access equipment, and the second multi-link access equipment sends a first multi-link reconfiguration response message to the multi-link terminal.

In one embodiment, the access point information includes one or more of the following parameters: a multi-link access device identification MLD ID, an access point identification AP ID, PRIMARY LINK, and a mobility management group identification MM group ID, wherein the PRIMARY LINK is configured to indicate whether the multi-link access device is a primary link.

According to still another aspect of the embodiments of the present application, there is also provided a mobility management device based on link coordination, including: a communication unit, configured to send a connection request message to a first multilink access device, receive a connection response message sent by the first multilink access device, indicate successful connection establishment in the connection response message, and read a broadcast message from the first multilink access device; the first multi-link access device and the second multi-link access device belong to the same mobility management group; the broadcast message includes access point information of the second multi-link access device, the access point information indicates a link where an access point operates, and whether the link where the access point operates is a main link;

a processing unit, configured to determine a handover access point from the access points of the second multilink access device according to the broadcast message;

the communication unit is further configured to send a first multilink reconfiguration request to the first multilink access device or the second multilink access device, where the first multilink reconfiguration request message includes any one or more of the following parameters: the reconfiguration type Reconfiguration type, the access point identification (AP ID), the terminal information (STA info); wherein Reconfiguration type is set to a first preset value, representing adding a link; the AP ID is set to be uniquely corresponding to the switching access point; the terminal information is set as information of a logic terminal operating on a link corresponding to a target link in the multi-link terminal;

The communication unit is further used for receiving a first multilink reconfiguration response message sent by the first multilink access device or the second multilink access device;

and the processing unit is also used for establishing connection with the switching access point on a link corresponding to the target link.

According to still another aspect of the embodiments of the present application, there is further provided a multi-link terminal device, where the multi-link terminal device includes a transceiver, a processor, and a memory, where at least one program code is stored in the memory, where the at least one program code is loaded by the processor and performs the mobility management method based on link coordination according to any one of the above.

In the embodiment of the application, after the connection is established with the first multi-link access equipment, the broadcast message from the first multi-link access equipment is read, the switching access point is determined according to the broadcast message, the first multi-link reconfiguration request is sent to the first multi-link access equipment or the second multi-link access equipment, the first multi-link reconfiguration response message sent by the first multi-link access equipment or the second multi-link access equipment is received, and the connection is established with the switching access point on the link corresponding to the target link. The method solves the problem that the current internet service is terminated due to long-time network interruption, and improves the internet smoothness.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the application and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the application and together with the description serve to explain the application and do not constitute a limitation on the application. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a flow chart of a mobility management method based on link coordination according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In order that those skilled in the art will better understand the present application, a technical solution in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which it is apparent that the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present application, not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present application without making any inventive effort, shall fall within the scope of the present application.

It should be noted that the terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and the claims of the present application and the above figures are used for distinguishing between similar objects and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the data so used may be interchanged where appropriate such that the embodiments of the application described herein may be implemented in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. Furthermore, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and "having," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or elements is not necessarily limited to those steps or elements expressly listed but may include other steps or elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

Example 1

According to an embodiment of the present application, there is provided a link collaboration-based mobility management method embodiment, it being noted that the steps shown in the flowchart of the figures may be performed in a computer system such as a set of computer-executable instructions, and that, although a logical order is shown in the flowchart, in some cases, the steps shown or described may be performed in an order different from that shown or described herein.

An embodiment of the method provided by the first embodiment of the present application may be performed in a multi-link terminal, which may include a plurality of logical terminals, each operating on a different communication link. Fig. 1 is a flow chart of a mobility management method based on link coordination according to an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 1, the method includes the following steps:

S10: and sending a connection request message to the first multi-link access device.

S20: and receiving a connection response message sent by the first multi-link access device, wherein the connection response message indicates successful connection establishment.

S30: reading a broadcast message from the first multi-link access device, wherein the first multi-link access device and the second multi-link access device belong to the same mobility management group; the broadcast message includes access point information of the second multi-link access device, where the access point information indicates a link where an access point operates, and whether the link where the access point operates is a main link. The second multilink access device may refer to one or more multilink access devices, which are not specifically limited.

S40: and determining a switching access point from the access points of the second multi-link access equipment according to the broadcast message.

Wherein the target link is different from the primary link of the first multi-link access device and is the primary link of the second multi-link access device. The switching access point meets the switching candidate condition; the switching candidate conditions are as follows: the measured value of the access point is more than or equal to a threshold value T2, the measured value of the access point is more than or equal to the main link signal strength of the first multi-link access device plus a threshold value T3, or the measured value of the access point is more than or equal to the main link signal strength of the first multi-link access device plus a threshold value T4, and the measured value of the access point is more than or equal to a threshold value T5.

As a possible way, the broadcast message includes access point information of the access points in the second multi-link access device, and each access point information includes one or more of the following parameters: a multi-link access device identification MLD ID, an access point identification AP ID, PRIMARY LINK, and a mobility management group identification MM group ID, wherein the PRIMARY LINK is configured to indicate whether the multi-link access device is a primary link.

When the multi-link terminal detects that the main link signal intensity of the first multi-link access equipment is smaller than or equal to a preset threshold value T1, the multi-link terminal reads the broadcast message, acquires access point information of all access points from the broadcast message, and selects a switching access point based on the access point information, wherein the specific mode is as follows:

Firstly, selecting access points with the same MM group ID to enter the next screening according to the MM group ID of the first multilink access device; still further, according to the Link identifier (assumed to be Link 1) of the primary Link of the first multi-Link access device, an access point whose Link identifier is not on the Link corresponding to Link1 is selected; finally, the multi-link terminal measures each access point selected in the above way, and takes the access point meeting the switching candidate condition as a candidate access point, wherein the switching candidate condition can be:

1) The measured value of the access point is greater than or equal to a threshold value T2; or alternatively, the first and second heat exchangers may be,

2) The measured value of the access point is greater than or equal to (the main link signal strength of the first multi-link access device + the threshold value T3); or alternatively, the first and second heat exchangers may be,

3) The measured value of the access point is greater than or equal to (the main link signal strength of the first multi-link access device+the threshold value T4), and the measured value of the access point is greater than or equal to the threshold value T5;

The threshold values T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 may be partially or completely set up between the multi-link terminal and the first multi-link access device, and may be sent to the multi-link terminal by the first multi-link access device in a connection response message, or may be preconfigured locally in the multi-link terminal. The threshold values T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 are set by experimental test data, and can be adjusted according to actual requirements later, and the application is not particularly limited.

If the number of candidate access points is 0, not performing handover; if the number of the candidate access points is 1, the candidate access points are directly used as the switching access points, and if the number of the candidate access points is more than 1, the candidate access points with the highest signal strength value are selected as the switching access points.

S50: transmitting a first multi-link reconfiguration request to the first multi-link access device or the second multi-link access device, wherein the first multi-link reconfiguration request message comprises any one or more of the following parameters: the reconfiguration type Reconfiguration type, the access point identification AP and the terminal information STA info; wherein Reconfiguration type is set to a first preset value, representing adding a link; the AP ID is set to be uniquely corresponding to the switching access point; the terminal information is set as information of a logic terminal operating on a link corresponding to a target link in the multi-link terminal; the target link is the link where the switching access point is located. The AP ID may be set as an address of an access point, a number of the access point, a Link ID, or a Link id+multi-Link access device ID MLD ID.

S60: and receiving a first multilink reconfiguration response message sent by the first multilink access device or the second multilink access device, and establishing connection with the switching access point on a link corresponding to the target link.

The first multi-link reconfiguration request is sent by the multi-link terminal to the first multi-link access equipment, and is used for indicating the first multi-link access equipment to send a switching preparation message to the second multi-link access equipment, and sending a first multi-link reconfiguration response message to the multi-link terminal after the second multi-link access equipment returns a switching preparation confirmation message indicating agreement;

or the first multi-link reconfiguration request is used for indicating the first multi-link access equipment to send a handover preparation message to the second multi-link access equipment, and the second multi-link access equipment sends a first multi-link reconfiguration response message to the multi-link terminal.

As one possible implementation manner, the following three implementation manners are provided in step S50 to step S60:

mode 1: the method comprises the steps that a multilink terminal sends a first multilink reconfiguration request to first multilink access equipment, after the first multilink access equipment receives the first multilink reconfiguration request, the first multilink access equipment sends a switching preparation message to second multilink access equipment, the second multilink access equipment sends a switching preparation confirmation message to the first multilink access equipment, and if the switching preparation confirmation message indicates agreement, the first multilink access equipment sends a first multilink reconfiguration response message to the terminal.

Mode 2: the method comprises the steps that a multilink terminal sends a first multilink reconfiguration request to first multilink access equipment, after the first multilink access equipment receives the first multilink reconfiguration request, the first multilink access equipment sends a switching preparation message to second multilink access equipment, and the second multilink access equipment sends a first multilink reconfiguration response message to the multilink terminal when switching is agreed.

Mode 3: the multi-link terminal sends a first multi-link reconfiguration request to the second multi-link access equipment, and the second multi-link access equipment sends a first multi-link reconfiguration response message to the multi-link terminal when agreeing to switch.

According to the embodiment of the application, by implementing the steps S10 to S60, a new access point is selected in advance and is connected with the new access point before the connection with the original service access point is disconnected in the moving process of the multi-terminal equipment, so that the problem that the network service which is performed by a user in the prior art is terminated due to long-time network interruption is solved, and the network smoothness of the user is improved.

As a possible implementation manner, after the multilink terminal receives the first multilink reconfiguration response message, it needs to disconnect from other multilink access devices on the first link (corresponding to the main link of the first multilink access device), in the following specific disconnection manner:

Disconnection mode 1: transmitting a second multilink reconfiguration request message to a second multilink access device, the second multilink reconfiguration request message including any one or more of the following parameters: the reconfiguration type Reconfiguration type and the access point identifier AP ID, wherein Reconfiguration type in the second multi-link reconfiguration request message is set to a second preset value, which indicates that the link is deleted, and the AP ID is set to the identifier of the access point of the first multi-link access device operating on the main link;

The second multilink reconfiguration request message is used for indicating the second multilink access device to send a notification message to the first multilink access device, reconfiguration type in the notification message is set to the second preset value, and the access point identifier is set to the identifier of the access point of the first multilink access device operating on the main link.

Disconnect mode 2: and sending a second multi-link reconfiguration request message to the first multi-link access device, wherein the second multi-link reconfiguration request message comprises a reconfiguration type Reconfiguration type and an access point identifier (AP ID), reconfiguration type in the second multi-link reconfiguration request message is set to a second preset value to indicate that a link is deleted, and the AP ID is set to the identifier of the access point of the first multi-link access device operating on the main link.

Further, after the multi-link terminal disconnects from the first multi-link access device on the first link, a third multi-link reconfiguration request message may be sent to the second multi-link access device, where the third multi-link reconfiguration request message includes a reconfiguration type Reconfiguration type and an access point identifier AP ID, reconfiguration type in the third multi-link reconfiguration request message is set to a first preset value, which indicates that a link is added, and the AP ID is set to an identifier of an access point of the first multi-link access device that operates on the main link. The second multilink access device is facilitated to establish a connection with the multilink terminal on a link corresponding to the primary link of the first multilink access device.

As a feasible manner, if the signal strength of the first multi-link access device is continuously lower than the threshold value T1 within a preset duration and the second multi-link access device meets the handover completion condition, triggering to execute the step of sending a second multi-link reconfiguration request message to the second multi-link access device or the first multi-link access device;

The handover completion condition includes: the signal intensity of the second multi-link access equipment is more than or equal to a threshold value T6, the signal intensity of the second multi-link access equipment is more than or equal to the main link signal intensity of the first multi-link access equipment plus a threshold value T7, or the signal intensity of the second multi-link access equipment is more than or equal to the main link signal intensity of the first multi-link access equipment plus a threshold value T8, and the signal intensity of the second multi-link access equipment is more than or equal to a threshold value T9. The threshold values T6, T7, T8, T9 and T10 are set by experimental test data, and can be adjusted according to actual requirements later, and the present application is not particularly limited.

It can be understood that in the field of wireless communication, in order to guarantee the coverage area of network services in one area, a plurality of access devices are usually deployed, and coverage areas between access devices are inevitably overlapped, and a terminal in the overlapped area will receive interference of an adjacent non-service access device, so that the influence of high packet error rate, low transmission rate and the like of the terminal in the overlapped coverage area is caused.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, before the first multi-link access device sends the broadcast message in step S20, the first multi-link access device and the second multi-link access device may each complete configuration of the cooperative multi-link mode, determine which links using the cooperative multi-link mode are primary links and which links using the cooperative multi-link mode are non-primary links. Because the first multilink access device and the second multilink access device belong to the same mobility management group, each multilink access device in the group locally stores the identifier, the address and related information (such as the link identifier of the link, whether the link is a main link or not, etc.) of each logic access point in other multilink access devices, which are used as the identifier of the same mobility management group, in the group, and further, after the multilink terminal reads the broadcast message, a switching access point can be selected from all access points of the second multilink access device, and a connection is established with the switching access point, where the link is different from the main link of the first multilink access device and is the main link of the second multilink access device.

The method is based on the characteristic that the multilink access equipment is provided with a plurality of independently operable logic access points, different main links are arranged for the corresponding logic access points among different multilink access equipment in the mobility management group, and link resources are flexibly used according to the interference state, so that the resource utilization efficiency is improved, the interference to terminals among different access equipment is avoided, and the user experience is improved.

For a better understanding of the present application, the implementation procedure of the above method is described in detail below with reference to specific examples:

Example 1, assume that the first multi-link access device is a multi-link access device AP MLD1, the second multi-link access device includes two, namely a multi-link access device AP MLD2 and a multi-link access device AP MLD3.

The multi-Link access device AP MLD1 has three logical access points AP1, AP2 and AP3, wherein AP1 operates on a Link identified as Link1, AP2 operates on a Link identified as Link2, and AP3 operates on a Link identified as Link 3;

The multi-Link access device AP MLD2 has three logical access points AP4, AP5 and AP6, wherein AP4 operates on a Link identified as Link1, AP5 operates on a Link identified as Link2, and AP6 operates on a Link identified as Link 3;

The multi-Link access device AP MLD3 has three logical access points AP7, AP8 and AP9, wherein AP7 operates on a Link identified as Link1, AP8 operates on a Link identified as Link2, and AP9 operates on a Link identified as Link 3;

The identification of each link is used for uniquely identifying a logic access point in a multi-link access device, the identification of one link corresponds to an information set and comprises the BSSID, the operation level and the operation channel of the logic access point, and the link identification is unchanged when the operation level and the operation channel of the logic access point change during use.

The identifiers of the different multi-Link access devices on the links can be set to the same value, for example, link1, link2 and Link3 are set in the AP MLD1, and links corresponding to the same operation level and operation channel in the AP MLD2 are also set to Link1, link2 and Link3; in this case, the link corresponding to the target link in step S60 is the same as the target link identifier. For example, link2, the terminal establishes a connection with the handover access point on the Link2 Link in step 60. Since the same Link identifier is present in different multi-Link access devices, it cannot uniquely correspond to one access point through the Link identifier, and thus, in this case, the AP ID in step S50 may be set as the access point address, the access point number, or the Link identifier Link id+the multi-Link access device identifier MLD ID.

Or the representations of the links by different multilink access devices may also be set to different values, for example, the Link identifiers in the AP MLD2 may be Link4, link5 and Link6, which respectively correspond to Link1, link2 and Link3 of the AP MLD1 on the physical channel, and Link10, link11 and Link12 of the multilink terminal, respectively. In this case, assuming that the target Link in the step S60 is Link5, the corresponding Link of the target Link in the step S60 is Link11, and the terminal establishes a connection with the handover access point on the Link of Link11 in the step S60. Since the Link identifiers in different multi-Link access devices are different, the Link identifier may be uniquely corresponding to one access point, and thus, in this case, the AP ID in step S50 may be set as the access point address, the access point number, or the Link identifier Link ID.

For convenience of description, the following description will take AP MLD1, AP MLD2 and AP MLD3 as examples, where the identifiers of each multi-Link access device are N0, N1, and N2, and the Link identifiers set in the interior are the same, and Link1, link2, and Link3 are taken as examples.

Before the first multilink access device sends the broadcast message in step S30, the configuration of the cooperative multilink mode may be performed first, and the links using the cooperative multilink mode are determined first, where in the embodiment of the present application, all links are assumed, and in practical implementation, some links may be also used, for example, (Link 1 and Link 2), and other configurations are as follows:

AP MLD1: link1 is used as a main Link, and other links are used as non-main links;

AP MLD2: link2 is used as a main Link, and other links are used as non-main links;

AP MLD3: link3 is used as the primary Link and the other links are non-primary links.

As a possible way, after the first multi-link access device completes the configuration of the cooperative multi-link mode, the configuration procedure of the second multi-link access device AP MLD2, AP MLD3 is as follows:

Step 1: the AP MLD1 sends a cooperative multi-link mode configuration message to the AP MLD2, where the message includes:

Step 2: the AP MLD1 sends a cooperative multi-link mode configuration message to the AP MLD3, where the message includes:

As another possible manner, the AP MLD2 and the AP MLD3 do not need to send a cooperative multi-link mode configuration message through the AP MLD1 to configure the cooperative multi-link mode configuration, and the configuration is completed by the user operating on each AP MLD2 and AP MLD3 device.

After the cooperative multi-link mode configuration is completed by each of the AP MLD1, the AP MLD2 and the AP MLD3, the AP MLD1 that establishes a connection with the multi-link terminal may send a broadcast message, where the broadcast message includes access point information of each access point in the AP MLD2 and the AP MLD3, and the broadcast message includes access point information corresponding to each of the access points AP4, AP5, AP6, AP7, AP8 and AP 9. It is assumed that access point information corresponding to each of access points AP4, AP5, AP6, AP7, AP8, and AP9 is represented by AP info1, AP info2, AP info3, AP info4, AP info5, and AP info6, respectively, where AP info1 includes:

AP info2 contains:

AP info3 contains:

AP info4 contains:

AP info5 contains:

AP info6 includes:

When the multi-link terminal detects that the main link signal strength of the AP MLD1 is smaller than or equal to a preset threshold value T1, the broadcasting message is read, access point information of all access points of the second multi-link access device is obtained, and a switching access point is determined from all the access points according to the access point information, so that the description is convenient, and the AP5 is assumed:

mode 1: the multilink terminal sends a first multilink reconfiguration request message to the AP MLD1, where the message includes:

The AP MLD1 determines a target access device AP MLD2 according to the AP ID, and sends a switching preparation message to the target access device, wherein the switching preparation message comprises information of a terminal needing switching and information of a link connected during switching:

The AP MLD2 sends a switching preparation confirmation message to the AP MLD1, and indicates agreement;

after receiving the message, the AP MLD1 sends a multilink reconfiguration response message to the terminal;

Mode 2: the multilink terminal sends a first multilink reconfiguration request message to the AP MLD1, where the message includes:

The AP MLD1 determines a target access device AP MLD2 according to the AP ID, and sends a switching preparation message to the target access device, wherein the switching preparation message comprises information of a terminal needing switching and information of a link connected during switching:

the AP MLD2 sends a multilink reconfiguration response message to the terminal;

Mode 3: the multi-link terminal sends a first multi-link reconfiguration request message to the target access device AP MLD2, where the message includes:

The AP MLD2 transmits a multilink reconfiguration response message to the multilink terminal.

The multi-Link terminal sets the Link with the Link identification of Link2 as a main Link, and sets the Link with the Link identification of Link1 as a non-main Link.

Further, after receiving the first multilink reconfiguration response message, the multilink terminal needs to disconnect from other multilink access devices in a specific disconnection manner:

Disconnection mode 1: the multi-link terminal sends a second multi-link reconfiguration request message to the AP MLD2;

The message comprises:

optionally, the AP MLD2 sends a multilink reconfiguration response message to the multilink terminal indicating approval. The AP MLD2 sends a notification message to the AP MLD1, which includes:

after receiving the notification message, the AP MLD1 may control the AP1 to disconnect from the multi-link terminal.

Disconnect mode 2: the multilink terminal sends a second multilink reconfiguration request message to the AP MLD1, where the message includes:

Optionally, after the multi-Link terminal disconnects from the AP1 in the first multi-Link access device on Link1, a third multi-Link reconfiguration request message may also be sent to the AP MLD2, where the message includes:

After receiving the third multilink reconfiguration request message, the AP MLD2 determines an access point AP4 corresponding to the AP MLD1 access point AP1 according to the AP ID in the message, and controls the AP4 to establish connection with the multilink terminal at Link 1.

Example 2

There is further provided, according to an embodiment of the present application, a mobility management device 40 based on link coordination for implementing the mobility management method based on link coordination, where the device 40 includes: the communication unit 42 and the processing unit 44 will be described below as the mobility management device 40 based on link coordination.

A communication unit 42, configured to send a connection request message to a first multilink access device, receive a connection response message sent by the first multilink access device, indicate successful connection establishment in the connection response message, and read a broadcast message from the first multilink access device; the first multi-link access device and the second multi-link access device belong to the same mobility management group; the broadcast message includes access point information of the second multi-link access device, the access point information indicates a link where an access point operates, and whether the link where the access point operates is a main link;

A processing unit 44, configured to determine a handover access point from the access points of the second multilink access device according to the broadcast message;

The communication unit 42 is further configured to send a first multilink reconfiguration request to the first multilink access device or the second multilink access device, where the first multilink reconfiguration request message includes any one or more of the following parameters: the reconfiguration type Reconfiguration type, the access point identification (AP ID), the terminal information (STA info); wherein Reconfiguration type is set to a first preset value, representing adding a link; the AP ID is set to be uniquely corresponding to the switching access point; the terminal information is set as information of a logic terminal operating on a link corresponding to a target link in the multi-link terminal; the target link is the link where the switching access point is located;

A communication unit 42, configured to receive a first multilink reconfiguration response message sent by the first multilink access device or the second multilink access device;

the processing unit 44 is further configured to establish a connection with the handover access point on a link corresponding to the target link.

Here, it should be noted that the communication unit 42 and the processing unit 44 correspond to the implementation steps S10 to S60 of the mobility management method based on link coordination, and the plurality of units are the same as the examples and application scenarios implemented by the corresponding steps, but are not limited to those disclosed in the foregoing embodiments. It should be noted that the above-mentioned units may be run as part of the apparatus in the terminal device to which the above-mentioned method is applied.

Example 3

Embodiments of the present application may provide a multi-link terminal device, optionally in this embodiment, the multi-link terminal device may be located in at least one network device of a plurality of network devices of a computer network. The multi-link terminal device includes a memory and a processor.

The memory may be used to store software programs and modules, such as program instructions/modules corresponding to a mobility management method and apparatus based on link coordination in the embodiments of the present application, and the processor executes the software programs and modules stored in the memory, thereby executing various functional applications and data processing, that is, implementing the mobility management method based on link coordination. The memory may include high-speed random access memory, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic storage devices, flash memory, or other non-volatile solid-state memory. In some examples, the memory may further include memory remotely located relative to the processor, which may be connected to the computer terminal via a network. Examples of such networks include, but are not limited to, the internet, intranets, local area networks, mobile communication networks, and combinations thereof.

The processor may call the information stored in the memory and the application program to perform the following steps: transmitting a connection request message to a first multilink access device; receiving a connection response message sent by a first multi-link access device, wherein the connection response message indicates successful connection establishment; reading a broadcast message from the first multi-link access device, wherein the first multi-link access device and the second multi-link access device belong to the same mobility management group; the broadcast message includes access point information of the second multi-link access device, the access point information indicates a link where an access point operates, and whether the link where the access point operates is a main link; determining a switching access point from the access points of the second multi-link access equipment according to the broadcast message; transmitting a first multi-link reconfiguration request to the first multi-link access device or the second multi-link access device, wherein the first multi-link reconfiguration request message comprises any one or more of the following parameters: the reconfiguration type Reconfiguration type, the access point identification (AP ID), the terminal information (STA info); wherein Reconfiguration type is set to a first preset value, representing adding a link; the AP ID is set to be uniquely corresponding to the switching access point; the terminal information is set as information of a logic terminal operating on a link corresponding to a target link in the multi-link terminal; the target link is the link where the switching access point is located; and receiving a first multilink reconfiguration response message sent by the first multilink access device or the second multilink access device, and establishing connection with the switching access point on a link corresponding to the target link.

The processor is further configured to execute the steps in embodiment 1, which will not be described herein. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that all or part of the steps in the various methods of the above embodiments may be implemented by a program for instructing a terminal device to execute in association with hardware, the program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, and the storage medium may include: flash disk, read-Only Memory (ROM), random-access Memory (Random Access Memory, RAM), magnetic disk or optical disk, etc.

Example 4

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium. Alternatively, in this embodiment, the above-mentioned computer readable storage medium may be used to store program code executed by a mobility management method based on link coordination provided in embodiment 1 above.

Alternatively, in this embodiment, the above-mentioned computer-readable storage medium may be located in any one of the computer terminals in the computer terminal group in the computer network, or in any one of the mobile terminals in the mobile terminal group.

Alternatively, in the present embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium is provided to store program codes for performing the corresponding steps of embodiment 1.

The foregoing embodiment numbers of the present application are merely for the purpose of description, and do not represent the advantages or disadvantages of the embodiments.

In the foregoing embodiments of the present application, the descriptions of the embodiments are emphasized, and for a portion of this disclosure that is not described in detail in this embodiment, reference is made to the related descriptions of other embodiments.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed technology may be implemented in other manners. The above-described embodiments of the apparatus are merely exemplary, and the division of units may be a logic function division, and there may be another division manner in actual implementation, for example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be through some interfaces, units or modules, or may be in electrical or other forms.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed over a plurality of units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit. The integrated units may be implemented in hardware or in software functional units.

The integrated units, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as stand-alone products, may be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be embodied essentially or partly in the form of a software product or all or part of the technical solution, which is stored in a storage medium, and includes several instructions for causing a terminal device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method of the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a usb disk, a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a random access Memory (RAM, random Access Memory), a removable hard disk, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, or other various media capable of storing program codes.

The foregoing is merely a preferred embodiment of the present application and it should be noted that modifications and adaptations to those skilled in the art may be made without departing from the principles of the present application, which are intended to be comprehended within the scope of the present application.

Claims (10)

1. A mobility management method based on link coordination, wherein the method is applied to a multi-link terminal, the method comprising:

transmitting a connection request message to a first multilink access device;

receiving a connection response message sent by a first multi-link access device, wherein the connection response message indicates successful connection establishment;

reading a broadcast message from the first multi-link access device, wherein the first multi-link access device and the second multi-link access device belong to the same mobility management group; the broadcast message includes access point information of the second multi-link access device, the access point information indicates a link where an access point operates, and whether the link where the access point operates is a main link;

determining a switching access point from the access points of the second multi-link access equipment according to the broadcast message;

Transmitting a first multi-link reconfiguration request to the first multi-link access device or the second multi-link access device, wherein the first multi-link reconfiguration request message comprises any one or more of the following parameters: the reconfiguration type Reconfiguration type, the access point identification (AP ID), the terminal information (STA info); wherein Reconfiguration type is set to a first preset value, representing adding a link; the AP ID is set to be uniquely corresponding to the switching access point; the terminal information is set as information of a logic terminal operating on a link corresponding to a target link in the multi-link terminal; the target link is the link where the switching access point is located;

And receiving a first multilink reconfiguration response message sent by the first multilink access device or the second multilink access device, and establishing connection with the switching access point on a link corresponding to the target link.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the target link is different from and is a primary link of the first multi-link access device.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the handover access point satisfies a handover candidate condition, the handover candidate condition being: the measured value of the access point is more than or equal to a threshold value T2, the measured value of the access point is more than or equal to the main link signal strength of the first multi-link access device plus a threshold value T3, or the measured value of the access point is more than or equal to the main link signal strength of the first multi-link access device plus a threshold value T4, and the measured value of the access point is more than or equal to a threshold value T5.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein after the receiving the first multilink reconfiguration response message sent by the first multilink access device or the second multilink access device, the method further comprises:

Transmitting a second multilink reconfiguration request message to a second multilink access device, the second multilink reconfiguration request message including any one or more of the following parameters: the reconfiguration type Reconfiguration type and the access point identifier AP ID, wherein Reconfiguration type in the second multi-link reconfiguration request message is set to a second preset value, which indicates that the link is deleted, and the AP ID is set to the identifier of the access point of the first multi-link access device operating on the main link;

The second multilink reconfiguration request message is used for indicating the second multilink access device to send a notification message to the first multilink access device, reconfiguration type in the notification message is set to the second preset value, and the access point identifier is set to the identifier of the access point of the first multilink access device operating on the main link.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein after the receiving the first multilink reconfiguration response message sent by the first multilink access device or the second multilink access device, the method further comprises:

And sending a second multi-link reconfiguration request message to the first multi-link access device, wherein the second multi-link reconfiguration request message comprises a reconfiguration type Reconfiguration type and an access point identifier (AP ID), reconfiguration type in the second multi-link reconfiguration request message is set to a second preset value to indicate that a link is deleted, and the AP ID is set to the identifier of the access point of the first multi-link access device operating on the main link.

6. The method of claim 4 or 5, wherein the method further comprises:

and sending a third multi-link reconfiguration request message to the second multi-link access device, wherein the third multi-link reconfiguration request message comprises a reconfiguration type Reconfiguration type and an access point identifier (AP ID), reconfiguration type in the third multi-link reconfiguration request message is set to a first preset value to represent adding a link, and the AP ID is set to the identifier of the access point of the first multi-link access device operating on the main link.

7. The method of claim 4 or 5, wherein the method further comprises:

if the signal intensity of the first multi-link access device is continuously lower than a threshold value T1 within a preset duration and the second multi-link access device meets a switching completion condition, triggering and executing the step of sending the second multi-link reconfiguration request message;

The handover completion condition includes: the signal intensity of the second multi-link access equipment is more than or equal to a threshold value T6, the signal intensity of the second multi-link access equipment is more than or equal to the main link signal intensity of the first multi-link access equipment plus a threshold value T7, or the signal intensity of the second multi-link access equipment is more than or equal to the main link signal intensity of the first multi-link access equipment plus a threshold value T8, and the signal intensity of the second multi-link access equipment is more than or equal to a threshold value T9.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first multi-link reconfiguration request is sent by the multi-link terminal to the first multi-link access device, the first multi-link reconfiguration request being for instructing the first multi-link access device to send a handover preparation message to the second multi-link access device, and after the second multi-link access device returns a handover preparation confirm message indicating approval, sending a first multi-link reconfiguration response message to the multi-link terminal;

or the first multi-link reconfiguration request is used for indicating the first multi-link access equipment to send a handover preparation message to the second multi-link access equipment, and the second multi-link access equipment sends a first multi-link reconfiguration response message to the multi-link terminal.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the access point information comprises one or more of the following parameters: the access point identity AP ID, PRIMARY LINK and the mobility management group identity MM group ID, wherein the PRIMARY LINK is used to indicate whether it is a primary link.

10. A mobility management device based on link coordination, comprising:

A communication unit, configured to send a connection request message to a first multilink access device, receive a connection response message sent by the first multilink access device, indicate successful connection establishment in the connection response message, and read a broadcast message from the first multilink access device; the first multi-link access device and the second multi-link access device belong to the same mobility management group; the broadcast message includes access point information of the second multi-link access device, the access point information indicates a link where an access point operates, and whether the link where the access point operates is a main link;

a processing unit, configured to determine a handover access point from the access points of the second multilink access device according to the broadcast message;

the communication unit is further configured to send a first multilink reconfiguration request to the first multilink access device or the second multilink access device, where the first multilink reconfiguration request message includes any one or more of the following parameters: the reconfiguration type Reconfiguration type, the access point identification (AP ID), the terminal information (STA info); wherein Reconfiguration type is set to a first preset value, representing adding a link; the AP ID is set to be uniquely corresponding to the switching access point; the terminal information is set as information of a logic terminal operating on a link corresponding to a target link in the multi-link terminal;

The communication unit is further used for receiving a first multilink reconfiguration response message sent by the first multilink access device or the second multilink access device;

and the processing unit is also used for establishing connection with the switching access point on a link corresponding to the target link.