CN100574245C - Wireless local area network module for maintaining connection and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for maintaining a connection status of a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) module disposed in a host system and connectable to a wireless Access Point (AP), the method comprising: providing a processing unit; when the main system enters a standby state or a dormant state, the processing unit takes over the wireless local area network module so as to maintain the connection state of the wireless local area network module; and when the main system is awakened, the main system takes over the wireless local area network module. In addition, a wireless local area network module for maintaining connection for implementing the method is also provided.

Description

Wireless local area network module and method for maintaining connection

technical field

The present invention relates to the field of wireless local area network, in particular, to a wireless local area network module (Module) capable of maintaining connection and its method.

Background technique

Information and communication technology has developed rapidly in recent years and has become popular among the public, from the previous dial-up network to today's broadband network, wired network to wireless network, home fixed telephone to mobile phone, and even voice and data, communication Information such as broadcasting and broadcasting can be transmitted between networks. Especially the wireless local area network (Wireless Local Area Network, WLAN) whose transmission spectrum is formulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States belongs to the free public frequency band of ISM (Industrial Science Medical), including 902-928MHz (26MHz ) band; 2.4-2.4835GHz (83.5MHz) band for scientific research; and 5.15-5.35GHz and 5.725-5.825GHz band for medical use. Since the establishment of the IEEE 802.11 standard in 1997, wireless local area networks have been developed for about ten years, enabling all electronic devices that support wireless local area networks to obtain what they need through wireless access points (Access Point, AP) anytime and anywhere. , and one of its applications is e-commerce. E-commerce refers to activities such as buying, selling or exchanging goods, services and information through the Internet, such as commodity transactions, advertisements, services, information provision, financial exchange and market intelligence, etc. Because the wireless local area network gets rid of the limitation of having to go online at a fixed point in the past, mobile Internet access makes work and life more mobile, and the progress of work will no longer be restricted by time and space environment equipment.

An electronic device supporting WLAN must first listen to a WLAN within a nearby communication range and determine whether it has the right to use the WLAN to complete the connection. The listening process is also called scanning. However, when the electronic device enters the standby state for power saving or other purposes, the electronic device loses its connection with the wireless LAN. Once the electronic device returns to the operating state, it usually takes a while to re-establish the connection between the electronic device and the wireless access point . The user of the electronic device thus wastes his precious time waiting for the connection. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a wireless local area network module capable of maintaining connection and its method, so that the wireless local area network of the electronic device can achieve the goal of "instantly open and use".

Contents of the invention

One aspect of the present invention is to provide a method for maintaining the connection state of a wireless local area network module, the wireless local area network module is set in a host system and can be connected with a wireless access point, the method includes the following steps: providing a processing unit ; When the main system enters the standby or dormant state, the processing unit takes over the wireless local area network module to maintain the connection state of the wireless local area network module; and when the main system is awakened, the main system takes over the wireless local area network module.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a wireless local area network module for maintaining connection. The wireless local area network module is arranged in a main system, and the wireless local area network module includes: an input/output interface for the wireless local area network module to communicate with the main system; An antenna for connecting the wireless local area network module to a wireless access point; and a processing unit; wherein when the main system is in an operating state, the main system controls the wireless local area network module, and wherein when the main system enters a standby or sleep state, the processing unit Take over the wireless LAN module to maintain the connection status of the wireless LAN module.

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless local area network module maintaining a connection according to a specific embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of another wireless local area network module maintaining a connection according to a specific embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a method for maintaining a connection state of a wireless local area network module according to a specific embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram of a processing unit taking over a wireless local area network module according to a specific embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram of the main system taking over the wireless local area network module according to a specific embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols in drawings

100 master systems

102 wireless LAN module

104 input/output interface

106 antenna

108 wireless access points

110 processing units

112 media access control unit

114 base frequency units

116 radio frequency unit

118 CPU

120 North Bridge

122 Graphics Operation Processor

124 memory

126 South Bridge

128 storage units

230 multiplexing unit

Detailed ways

The invention discloses a wireless local area network module and its method for maintaining connection, which can be built on a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile phone or other electronic products. In order to make the description of the present invention more detailed and complete, reference may be made to the following description together with the diagrams of FIG. 1 to FIG. 5 .

Referring to FIG. 1 , in one embodiment, the present invention provides a wireless local area network module 102 for maintaining connection, which includes: an input/output interface 104 for the wireless local area network module 102 to communicate with a host system 100; an antenna 106, A wireless local area network module 102 is connected to a wireless access point 108; and a processing unit 110 is arranged in the wireless local area network module 102 and connected to the input/output interface 104 and the media access control unit 112; wherein when the main system 100 is in In the operating state, the main system 100 controls the wireless local area network module 102, and wherein when the main system 100 enters a standby or sleep state, the processing unit 110 takes over the wireless local area network module 102 to maintain the wireless local area network module 102 and the wireless access point 108. Connection Status.

In one embodiment, the processing unit 110 may be implemented by a microprocessor/microcontroller. Moreover, it is worth noting that although in FIG. 1 , the processing unit 110 is disposed in the wireless LAN module 102 , this is only an example and is not intended to limit the present invention. In addition, in one embodiment, the wireless local area network module 102 can also be installed in the main system 100, and the power supplied to the processing unit 110 at this time can be obtained from an always-on power supply in the main system 100, such as a basic input input system (BasicInput Output System, BIOS) battery.

In addition, the wireless local area network module 102 shown in FIG. 1 can also be designed that when the main system 100 is shut down, the processing unit 110 takes over the wireless local area network module 102 to maintain the connection state between the wireless local area network module 102 and the wireless access point 108, and when the main system When the system 100 is turned on, the main system 100 controls the wireless LAN module 102 .

In FIG. 1 , the WLAN module 102 further includes a radio frequency unit 116 , a baseband unit 114 and a MAC unit 112 . As known to those skilled in the art, the radio frequency unit 116 can be composed of a spread spectrum transceiver (Spread spectrum transceiver), a low noise amplifier (LNA), a mixer (Mixer), a dual frequency synthesizer (Dual frequency synthesizer), a power amplifier (PowerAmplifier) ) etc. to process the signal received by the antenna 106 and then transmit it to the base frequency unit 114 , or to process the signal transmitted from the base frequency unit 114 and then transmit it by the antenna 106 . The base frequency unit is used to decode/demodulate the signal transmitted from the radio frequency unit 114, or encode/modulate the signal transmitted from the media access unit 112. For example, the modulation technology in IEEE 802.11b 11Mbps is CCK, and in The modulation technology in IEEE 802.11a is OFDM. The necessary specification for IEEE 802.11g is OFDM, which is compatible with the CCK modulation technology of IEEE 802.11b. The optional specification is CCK/OFDM or the PBCC modulation technology proposed by TI. The MAC unit 112 is used to control the overall transmission process of the signal. In addition, in terms of design, the baseband unit 114 and the media access control unit 112 can generally be integrated on the same chip, or the radio frequency unit 116, the baseband unit 114 and the media access control unit 112 can also be integrated into one chip superior.

In Fig. 1, the main system 100 comprises a central processing unit (CPU) 118, and the central processing unit 118 uses a northbridge chipset 120 as a bridge, and a graphics processing unit (GPU) 122, a memory 124 and a southbridge chipset 126 connected. Generally speaking, the WLAN module 102 communicates with the main system 100 through the south bridge chipset 126 as a bridge. Therefore, the signal from the host system 100 can pass through the south bridge chipset 126 and be transmitted to the WLAN module 102 through the input/output interface 104 . In this embodiment, if the host system 100 is in an operating state, the processing unit 110 can directly transmit the signal from the host system to the MAC unit 112 . In other embodiments, the wireless local area network module may further include a multiplexing unit 230 (see FIG. 2 ). When the main system 100 is in operation, the signal from the antenna 106 or from the main system 100 passes through the multiplexing unit 230 to the wireless local area network module. 102 without going through the processing unit 110.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 1 , a storage unit 128 in the drawing is accessible by the processing unit 110 , and the storage unit 128 can store related information of the wireless access point 108 and user information of the WLAN. And in one embodiment, the storage unit 128 also stores the relevant information of the wireless access point used and the corresponding user information for use by the processing unit 110 .

Referring next to FIG. 3 , it illustrates a method for maintaining a connection state of a WLAN module. The wireless local area network module is set in a host system and can be connected with a wireless access point. The method includes the following steps: In step 302, a processing unit is provided, and the processing unit can be a microprocessor/microcontroller ; In step 304, when the main system enters the standby or dormant state, the processing unit takes over the wireless local area network module to maintain the connection state of the wireless local area network module; and in step 306, when the main system is awakened (wake-up), the main system Takes over the wireless LAN module.

In addition, in one embodiment, step 304 and step 306 further include: when the main system is shut down, the processing unit takes over the wireless local area network module to maintain the connection state of the wireless local area network module; and when the main system is turned on, the main system takes over the wireless local area network module .

In one embodiment, step 302 further includes providing a storage unit for the processing unit to access, and the provided storage unit and the processing unit can be disposed in the wireless local area network module. The provided storage unit can be used to store the related information of the used wireless access point and the corresponding user information. In this embodiment, the process of the processing unit taking over the WLAN module in step 304 can further refer to the sequence diagram of FIG. 4 , which illustrates a schematic sequence diagram of a host system 400 and a processing unit 410 . First, when the main system 400 enters the standby or dormant state, the main system 400 notifies the processing unit 410 that it will enter the standby or dormant state (402); the processing unit 410 requests information about a wireless access point and user information of a wireless local area network ( 404); the main system 400 will use the relevant information of the wireless access point and the user information of the wireless local area network, such as the service identification code (Service Set IDentifier, SSID) of the wireless access point, the wired equivalent encryption (Wired Equivalent Privacy) of the user , WEP) and Wireless Application Protocol (Wireless Application Protocol, WAP) keys or other information are sent to the processing unit 410 and stored in the storage unit (406); finally the main system 400 enables the processing unit 410 to take over the wireless LAN module , to enter the standby or hibernation state (408).

Conversely, for the process of the main system taking over the WLAN module in step 306, further reference can be made to the sequence diagram in FIG. 5 . First, the main system checks the connection status of the WLAN module through the processing unit (502); the processing unit transmits the connection status of the WLAN module to the main system (504); the main system requests the relevant information of the wireless access point and the user of the WLAN Information (506); the processing unit transmits the relevant information of the wireless access point and the user information of the wireless LAN to the main system (508), and finally the main system stops the function of the processing unit 410 and takes over the LAN module (510).

Therefore, the above-mentioned storage unit for access by the processing unit, in addition to storing the information of the previously connected wireless access point in standby and dormancy, such as the service identification code (SSID), can also store the wireless access point that has been connected in the past information, and store the corresponding user authorization code/password, etc., so that the main system can access the storage unit through the processing unit to obtain the user authorization of different wireless access points in the state of dormancy, standby or power-off and mobile The code/password mechanism can also maintain the connection status.

The above descriptions are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of claims of the present invention; all other equivalent changes or modifications that do not deviate from the spirit disclosed in the present invention should be included in the following within the scope of the claims.

Claims (13)

1. method of keeping the connection status of a wireless lan (wlan) module, this Wireless LAN module is arranged in the main system, and can be connected with a WAP (wireless access point) (AP), and the method includes the steps of:

One processing unit is provided;

This main system notifies this main system of this processing unit will enter standby or resting state;

The relevant information of this this WAP (wireless access point) of processing unit request and user's information of WLAN (wireless local area network);

This main system is sent to this processing unit with the relevant information of this WAP (wireless access point) and user's information of WLAN (wireless local area network);

This processing unit is taken over this Wireless LAN module, to keep the connection status of this Wireless LAN module;

This main system enters standby or resting state;

When this main system was waken up, this main system saw through the connection status that this processing unit is checked this Wireless LAN module; This processing unit transmits the connection status of this Wireless LAN module and gives this main system;

The relevant information of this this WAP (wireless access point) of main system request and user's information of WLAN (wireless local area network);

This processing unit sends the relevant information of this WAP (wireless access point) and user's information of WLAN (wireless local area network) to this main system; And

This main system stops the effect of processing unit, and takes over this Wireless LAN module.

2. the method for claim 1 also comprises:

When this main system shutdown, this processing unit is taken over this Wireless LAN module, to keep the connection status of this Wireless LAN module; And

When this main system start, this main system is taken over this Wireless LAN module.

3. the method for claim 1, wherein this provides the step of a processing unit to comprise provides a microprocessor.

4. the method for claim 1, wherein this provides the step of a processing unit that this processing unit is arranged in this Wireless LAN module.

5. the method for claim 1, wherein this provides the step of a processing unit also to comprise a memory cell is provided, for this processing unit access.

6. method as claimed in claim 5 also comprises this cell stores once relevant information and corresponding user's information of used WAP (wireless access point).

7. Wireless LAN module of keeping connection comprises:

One input/output interface is communicated by letter with a main system for this Wireless LAN module;

One antenna is connected with a WAP (wireless access point) for this Wireless LAN module; And

One processing unit;

Wherein when this main system notifies this main system of this processing unit will enter standby or resting state, the relevant information of this this WAP (wireless access point) of processing unit request and user's information of WLAN (wireless local area network), this main system is sent to this processing unit with user's information of the relevant information of this WAP (wireless access point) and WLAN (wireless local area network) makes this processing unit take over this Wireless LAN module, to keep the connection status of this Wireless LAN module; And

Wherein when this main system when standby or resting state are waken up, the relevant information of this this WAP (wireless access point) of main system request and user's information of WLAN (wireless local area network), this processing unit sends the relevant information of this WAP (wireless access point) and user's information of WLAN (wireless local area network) to this main system, makes this main system control this Wireless LAN module.

8. Wireless LAN module as claimed in claim 7, wherein this processing unit is arranged in this Wireless LAN module.

9. Wireless LAN module as claimed in claim 7, wherein this processing unit is a microprocessor.

10. Wireless LAN module as claimed in claim 7, wherein when this main system shutdown, this processing unit is taken over this Wireless LAN module, to keep the connection status of this Wireless LAN module.

11. Wireless LAN module as claimed in claim 7, wherein this processing unit also comprises a memory cell, in order to the relevant information of storing this WAP (wireless access point) and user's information of WLAN (wireless local area network).

12. Wireless LAN module as claimed in claim 11, wherein this memory cell also stores once relevant information and corresponding user's information of used WAP (wireless access point).

13. Wireless LAN module as claimed in claim 9, also comprise a multiplex (MUX) unit, when this main system is in mode of operation, in this Wireless LAN module, transmits by this multiplex (MUX) unit from this antenna or from the signal of this main system, and need not pass through this processing unit.

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