KR20110073910A - Apparatus and method for connecting wireless network - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A wireless network access apparatus and method thereof are provided to increase the convenience of a user without rebooting of a terminal in order to access a WAPI access point. CONSTITUTION: A wireless network driver(104) transmits identifying information from one or more access points. The access point includes one or more WAPI access points. The wireless network driver generates the access point list in which the identifying information of one or more WAPI access points. A user interface(102) transmits the access point list from the wireless network driver. The user interface transmits an access request of the selected access point to the wireless network driver.

Description

Apparatus and method for connecting wireless network

The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for accessing a wireless network, and more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for allowing a user terminal to easily access a WAPI access point without an unnecessary process such as a separate reboot.

WAPI stands for WLAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure, and is a standard proposed in China for WLAN security. In China, WAPI authentication is essential to access a wireless network using a personal mobile terminal such as a cellular phone, PDA, or notebook computer.

In order to implement WAPI in a personal portable terminal, software of a company called IWNCOMM has been conventionally used. However, in order to use the software, royalties should be paid to IWNCOMM, and thus, the manufacturing cost of the personal portable terminal increases. In addition, the software of the IWNCOMM also has a problem that can not be used simultaneously with the WZC, a wireless network access utility that is conventionally used in personal portable terminals. That is, in order to use the WAPI software of IWNCOMM, the WZC mounted on the terminal must be deactivated. Therefore, there is a problem of rebooting the terminal in the WZC deactivation mode every time the WAPI network is accessed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a network access device and method capable of accessing both a WAPI access point and a general access point on a single user interface without a separate terminal reboot.

In order to solve the above problems, a wireless network access device according to an embodiment of the present invention receives identification information from one or more access points including one or more WAPI access points, and the identification information of the one or more WAPI access points is added. A wireless network driver for generating a list of access points; And a user interface for receiving and outputting the access point list from the wireless network driver, and transmitting a connection request from a user to an access point selected from the access points included in the outputted access point list to the wireless network driver. The wireless network driver may perform a connection from the user to a selected access point according to the access point connection request received from the user interface.

Wireless network access device according to another embodiment of the present invention for solving the above problems, receiving identification information from at least one access point including at least one WAPI access point, the identification information of the at least one WAPI access point is added A wireless network driver for generating a list of access points; A user interface for receiving and outputting the access point list from the wireless network driver, and transmitting a connection request from a user to an access point selected from the access points included in the outputted access point list to the wireless network driver; And an authentication information input module configured to receive authentication information about the WAPI access point from the user and transmit the authentication information to the wireless network driver when the access point selected from the user is a WAPI access point. In response to the access point access request received from the interface, the access from the user to the selected access point is performed using the authentication supplement inputted from the authentication information input module.

In this case, the identification information of the WAPI access point may include an SSID, a WAPI Information Element (IE), and authentication method information of the WAPI access point.

The authentication scheme may be one of a key sharing scheme (PSK) or a certification scheme.

Meanwhile, when the access point list includes identification information of the WAPI access point, the user interface may be configured to output the corresponding WAPI access point to distinguish it from other access points when the access point list is output.

When the user interface receives a selection of a WAPI access point from the user among the access points included in the outputted access point list, the user interface receives authentication information about the selected WAPI access point from the user and the wireless network receives the wireless network. Can be sent to the driver.

In this case, the authentication information may be an authentication key input from the user or a certificate selected from the user.

Meanwhile, when the wireless network driver receives and stores authentication information about the selected WAPI access point from the user interface or the authentication information input module, and receives a connection request from the user interface to the selected WAPI access point, The authentication information may be used to access the selected WAPI access point.

Meanwhile, in a wireless network access method according to an embodiment of the present invention for solving the above problems, the wireless network driver receives identification information from one or more access points including one or more WAPI access points, Generating an access point list to which identification information of the WAPI access point is added; At the user interface, receiving and outputting the access point list from the wireless network driver; Transmitting, at the user interface, a connection request from a user to an access point selected from among access points included in the outputted access point list to the wireless network driver; And in the wireless network driver, performing a connection from the user to a selected access point according to the access point connection request received from the user interface.

In this case, the identification information of the WAPI access point may include an SSID, a WAPI Information Element (IE), and authentication method information of the WAPI access point.

The authentication scheme may be one of a key sharing scheme (PSK) or a certification scheme.

Meanwhile, in the outputting of the access point list, when the access point list includes the identification information of the WAPI access point, the outputting of the access point list may output the corresponding WAPI access point to distinguish it from other access points. .

The transmitting of the access request to the selected access point to the wireless network driver may include: receiving a selection of a WAPI access point from the user among the access points included in the outputted access point list, from the user; The method may further include receiving authentication information regarding the selected WAPI access point and transmitting the received authentication information to the wireless network driver.

The authentication information may be an authentication key input from the user or a certificate selected from the user.

The performing of the connection to the selected access point may include: receiving and storing authentication information about the selected WAPI access point from the user interface; And performing connection with the selected WAPI access point using the authentication information.

The present invention outputs both a general access point and a WAPI access point using a single user interface, and provides a connection method according to a user's selection. All can be connected.

In addition, the user convenience is increased because a separate terminal reboot is not required for access to the WAPI access point, and the unit price of the product can be lowered by not having to pay a separate royalty for WAPI implementation.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, this is only an example and the present invention is not limited thereto.

In describing the present invention, when it is determined that the detailed description of the known technology related to the present invention may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. The following terms are defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, and may be changed according to the intention or custom of the user, the operator, and the like. Therefore, the definition should be based on the contents throughout this specification.

The technical spirit of the present invention is determined by the claims, and the following embodiments are merely one means for effectively explaining the technical spirit of the present invention to those skilled in the art.

1 is a block diagram of a wireless network access device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The wireless network access device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a device that runs on a user terminal having a WIFI wireless network access function such as a desktop computer, a PDA, a mobile phone, a notebook computer, and the like and includes a wireless network included in the user terminal. Controls the module so that the user can access the selected access point.

As shown, the wireless network access device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention largely includes a user interface 102 and a wireless network driver 104.

The user interface 102 requests the access point list from the wireless network driver 104, receives the access point list from the wireless network driver 104, and outputs the received access point list using the output means of the user terminal. In addition, when a user selects one of the output access point lists, the selected connection request is transmitted to the wireless network driver.

The wireless network driver 104 receives identification information from one or more access points including one or more WAPI access points, generates an access point list, and generates the access point list according to the access point list request from the user interface 102. To the user interface 102. After receiving the access point access request from the user interface, the access from the user to the selected access point is performed.

The user interface 102 and the wireless network driver 104 will be described in more detail below.

First, the user interface 102 requests the access point list from the wireless network driver 104, receives the access point list from the wireless network driver 104, and outputs the received access point list using the output means of the user terminal. The access point list is a list of WIFI access points that can be accessed from the point where the wireless network access device 100 is located. The list includes access points (hereinafter referred to as WAPI access points) and WAPI authentication requiring WAPI authentication. All unnecessary access points (hereinafter referred to as general access points) are included. The output means may be, for example, a screen output of the access point list using a screen display device such as an LCD provided in the user terminal.

As shown in FIG. 1, the user interface 102 may be implemented using the WZC library 106. WZC stands for Wireless Zero Configuration, also known as Wireless Auto Configuration, and is a WIFI wireless access utility from Microsoft. As shown, the WZC library 106 comprises WACSAPI.dll and WZCSVC.dll files. As such, by implementing the user interface 102 using the WZC library 106, in the present invention, the WAPI is connected in a manner similar to connecting to a general access point without having to run a separate wireless connection utility to access the WAPI access point. A connection to an access point can be performed.

In addition, the user interface 102 and the wireless network driver 104 exchange messages with each other using the NDIS 108. NDIS stands for network driver interface specification and is one of the standards for exchanging messages between a driver for a network device and the TCP / IP protocol.

For example, in order to request the access point list from the user interface 102 to the wireless network driver 104, the following message is transmitted to the wireless network driver 104 through the NDIS 108.

OID_801_11_BSSID_LIST_SCAN

The wireless network driver 104 receiving the message receives each identification information from the neighboring access points, generates a list of access points, and transmits the access point list to the user interface 102 using the following message.

OID_801_11_BSSID_LIST

The access point list includes the BSSID of each access point. The BSSID is an abbreviation of Basic Service Set IDentifier and is a unique identifier for identifying each access point in a wireless network, and generally represents a MAC address of each access point.

In addition, the access point may be classified into a general access point and a WAPI access point according to its type. If the wireless network driver 104 receives identification information from the WAPI access point, the wireless network driver 104 includes the SSID of the corresponding WAPI access point, the WAPI Information Element (WAPI IE), and the like in the access point list. Add Privacy (authentication method information). The SSID stands for Service Set IDentifier and is a service identifier for distinguishing a specific WLAN from other WLANs when the wireless network is accessed, and is a unique identifier attached to each header of packets transmitted through the WLAN. In addition, the privacy is information on the authentication method of the WAPI access point, and information on whether the corresponding WAPI access point uses a key exchange method (PSK) or a certificate method (Certification) is stored.

When the access point list is received from the wireless network driver 104 as described above, the user interface 102 outputs the transmitted access point list to a screen or the like. In this case, the user interface 102 outputs the general access point and the WAPI access point so that the user can distinguish the type of access point. The distinction may be made, for example, by using a different kind of icon or by changing a font or a text color of a list.

Then, the user can select which access point to connect to by viewing the output list of access points. If the user selects a WAPI access point, the user interface 102 outputs an interface for receiving authentication information for the selected WAPI access point, and receives authentication information for the selected WAPI access point from the user. . Which authentication information is input by the user interface can be determined according to the privacy information of the corresponding WAPI access point included in the access point list. In the case of the method, a screen for selecting one of the stored certificates may be output.

After the user inputs the authentication information, the user interface 102 transmits the received authentication information to the wireless network driver 104 using an NDIS query. The wireless network driver 104 stores the received authentication information and, when a connection to the corresponding access point is requested from the user interface 102, performs a connection with the selected access point using the received authentication information. That is, the wireless network driver 104 performs connection with the selected access point by exchanging Association Request and Association Response to the selected access point, and releases authentication of the received authentication information using the wapiopenssl.dll library. Done. The wapiopenssl.dll is an open source implemented WAPI authentication library. Since the matters related to the connection to the WAPI access point and the authentication release are the same as the connection process to the general WAPI access point, detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

2 is a block diagram of a wireless network access device 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown, the wireless network access device 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention includes a user interface 202, a wireless network driver 204 and the authentication information input module 206.

The user interface 202 requests the access point list from the wireless network driver 204, receives the access point list from the wireless network driver 204, and outputs the list using the output means of the user terminal. In addition, when a user selects one of the output access point lists, the selected connection request is transmitted to the wireless network driver.

The wireless network driver 204 receives the identification information from one or more access points including one or more WAPI access points, generates an access point list, and generates the access point list according to the access point list request from the user interface 202. To the user interface 202. Thereafter, upon receiving an access point connection request from the user interface, the user accesses the selected access point.

If the access point selected by the user is a WAPI access point, the authentication information input module 206 receives authentication information about the WAPI access point from the user and transmits the authentication information to the wireless network driver.

The wireless network access device 200 shown in FIG. 2 includes the same configuration as the wireless network access device 100 according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, but in addition to the user interface 202, a separate authentication information input module ( 206) is further included. That is, in this embodiment, the user interface 202 only outputs a list of access points transmitted from the wireless network driver 204 and transmits a connection request to the access point selected by the user to the wireless network driver 204. The authentication information input module 206 inputs authentication information for access to the WAPI access point.

Other configurations in this embodiment, that is, the WZC library 208, NDIS (210) and wapiopenssl.dll (212) has the same configuration as shown in FIG. 1, the detailed description thereof will be omitted here. .

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for accessing a wireless network 300 in the apparatus 100 for accessing a wireless network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, when the user interface 102 requests the access point list from the wireless network driver 104 (302), the wireless network driver 104 receives identification information of each access point from a neighboring access point (304), The access point list is generated using the received identification information (306). As described above, when the wireless network driver 104 receives the identification telegram from the WAPI access point, the access point list includes the SSID, the WAPI Information Element (IE), and the privacy information of the corresponding WAPI access point. do.

Then, when the user selects the WAPI access point from the output list of the access point, the user interface 102 receives the authentication information from the user and transmits it to the wireless network driver 104, the wireless network driver 104 transmits it. Receive and store (308). In this case, after receiving the authentication information, the wireless network driver 104 informs the user interface 102 of the security of the corresponding WAPI access point as being Open.

The user interface 102 then requests 310 a connection to the selected WAPI access point with the wireless network driver 104. In step 308, since the user interface 102 knows that the security of the WAPI access point to be opened is open, the user interface 102 requests a connection to the corresponding WAPI access point in an open manner. The wireless network driver 104 receiving the access request attempts to connect by transmitting an association request to the requested access point (312). Authentication of the stored authentication information is released using wapiopenssl.dll 110 (314).

4 is a flowchart illustrating a wireless network access method 400 in a wireless network access apparatus 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

First, when the user interface 202 requests the access point list from the wireless network driver 204 (402), the wireless network driver 204 receives identification information of each access point from a neighboring access point (404). In operation 406, the access point list is generated using the received identification information. As described above, when the wireless network driver 204 receives the identification telegram from the WAPI access point, the access point list includes the SSID, the WAPI information element (IE), and the privacy information of the corresponding WAPI access point. .

Thereafter, when the user selects the WAPI access point from the outputted access point list, the authentication information input module 202 receives the authentication information from the user and transmits the authentication information to the wireless network driver 204, and the wireless network driver 204 This is received and stored (408). In this case, after receiving the authentication information, the wireless network driver 204 informs the user interface 202 of the security of the corresponding WAPI access point as being Open.

The user interface 202 then requests 410 the wireless network driver 204 to connect to the selected WAPI access point. In step 408, the user interface 202 knows that the security of the WAPI access point to open is open, so the user interface 202 requests a connection to the corresponding WAPI access point in an open manner. The wireless network driver 204 receiving the access request attempts to connect by transmitting an association request to the requested access point (412). Authentication of the stored authentication information is released using wapiopenssl.dll 212 (414).

Meanwhile, an embodiment of the present invention may include a computer readable recording medium including a program for performing the methods described herein on a computer. The computer-readable recording medium may include program instructions, local data files, local data structures, etc. alone or in combination. The media may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well-known and available to those skilled in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape, optical recording media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, magnetic-optical media such as floppy disks, and ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions are included. Examples of program instructions may include high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter as well as machine code such as produced by a compiler.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to exemplary embodiments above, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains can make various modifications to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Will understand.

Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims below and equivalents thereof.

1 is a block diagram of a wireless network access device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram of a wireless network access device 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for accessing a wireless network 300 in the apparatus 100 for accessing a wireless network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a wireless network access method 400 in a wireless network access apparatus 200 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (21)

A wireless network driver that receives identification information from at least one access point including at least one WAPI access point, and generates an access point list to which identification information of the at least one WAPI access point is added; And And a user interface for receiving and outputting the access point list from the wireless network driver and transmitting a request for access to a selected access point from a user among access points included in the outputted access point list to the wireless network driver. , And the wireless network driver performs a connection from the user to a selected access point in accordance with the access point connection request received from the user interface. The method of claim 1, The identification information of the WAPI access point includes an SSID, a WAPI Information Element (IE), and authentication scheme information of the WAPI access point. The method of claim 2, The authentication method is a wireless network connection device, which is one of a PreShared Key (PSK) or a certificate method (Certification). The method of claim 2, The user interface, And when the identification information of the WAPI access point is included in the access point list, outputting the WAPI access point so as to be distinguished from other access points when outputting the access point list. 5. The method of claim 4, The user interface, When receiving a selection of the WAPI access point from the user among the access point included in the output access point list, receiving the authentication information for the selected WAPI access point from the user and transmits to the wireless network driver, wireless Network access devices. The method of claim 5, And the authentication information is an authentication key input from the user or a certificate selected from the user. The method of claim 5, The wireless network driver, Receive and store authentication information about the selected WAPI access point from the user interface, and when a connection request to the selected WAPI access point is received from the user interface, use the authentication information with the selected WAPI access point. A wireless network connection device for performing a connection. A wireless network driver that receives identification information from at least one access point including at least one WAPI access point, and generates an access point list to which identification information of the at least one WAPI access point is added; A user interface for receiving and outputting the access point list from the wireless network driver, and transmitting a connection request from a user to an access point selected from the access points included in the outputted access point list to the wireless network driver; And If the access point selected from the user is a WAPI access point, the authentication information input module for receiving the authentication information for the WAPI access point from the user and transmits to the wireless network driver, And the wireless network driver performs a connection from the user to a selected access point using the authentication supplement inputted from the authentication information input module according to the access point connection request received from the user interface. The method of claim 8, The method of claim 1, The identification information of the WAPI access point includes an SSID, a WAPI Information Element (IE), and authentication scheme information of the WAPI access point. 10. The method of claim 9, The authentication method is a wireless network connection device, which is one of a PreShared Key (PSK) or a Certificate method (Certification). 10. The method of claim 9, The user interface, And WAPI access point identification information included in the access point list, when outputting the access point list, outputting the corresponding WAPI access point to distinguish it from other access points. The method of claim 11, The authentication information input module, When receiving a selection for the WAPI access point from the user among the access points included in the access point list output to the user interface, receives the authentication information for the selected WAPI access point to transmit to the wireless network driver , Wireless network access device. The method of claim 12, And the authentication information is an authentication key input from the user or a certificate selected from the user. The method of claim 5, The wireless network driver, Receives and stores authentication information about the selected WAPI access point from the authentication information input module, and when a connection request is received from the user interface to the selected WAPI access point, the selected WAPI access point using the authentication information. Wireless network connection device. As a connection method of a wireless network, Receiving, at the wireless network driver, identification information from at least one access point including at least one WAPI access point, and generating a list of access points appended with identification information of the at least one WAPI access point; At the user interface, receiving and outputting the access point list from the wireless network driver; Transmitting, at the user interface, a connection request from a user to an access point selected from among access points included in the outputted access point list to the wireless network driver; And In the wireless network driver, performing a connection from the user to a selected access point according to the access point connection request received from the user interface; Wireless network access method comprising a. The method of claim 15, The identification information of the WAPI access point includes an SSID, a WAPI Information Element (IE), and authentication scheme information of the WAPI access point. The method of claim 16, The authentication method is one of a PreShared Key (PSK) or a certificate method (Certification). The method of claim 16,  The outputting step of the access point list, And when the identification information of the WAPI access point is included in the access point list, outputting the WAPI access point to distinguish it from other access points when outputting the access point list. The method of claim 18, The step of transmitting a connection request to the selected access point to the wireless network driver, When receiving a selection of the WAPI access point from the user among the access points included in the output access point list, receiving the authentication information for the selected WAPI access point from the user and transmitting to the wireless network driver The wireless network connection method further comprising. The method of claim 19, And the authentication information is an authentication key input from the user or a certificate selected from the user. The method of claim 19, Performing a connection to the selected access point, Receiving and storing authentication information about the selected WAPI access point from the user interface; And Performing a connection with the selected WAPI access point using the authentication information; Wireless network access method further comprising.

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