CN108024277A

CN108024277A - Method, control device and the wireless access point of Regulate signal decay

Info

Publication number: CN108024277A
Application number: CN201711319231.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 郑鹏超
Original assignee: Ruijie Networks Co Ltd
Current assignee: Ruijie Networks Co Ltd
Priority date: 2017-12-12
Filing date: 2017-12-12
Publication date: 2018-05-11

Abstract

The embodiment of the present application provides a kind of method, control device and the wireless access point of Regulate signal decay, the described method includes：After reaching in this cycle, the signal strength for the first signal for being received on the working channel of the AP by the radio-frequency front-end of the AP but being decayed without digital pad is obtained；Preset data rate and receiving sensitivity index mapping relations are searched, to obtain receiving sensitivity indexs of the AP under current data rate；According to the difference of the receiving sensitivity index of the signal strength and the AP of first signal under current data rate, the signal intensity attenuation amount that this cycle allows is determined；The signal intensity attenuation amount allowed according to described cycle resets the pad value of the digital pad.In the embodiment of the present application, it can be achieved that the real-time adjustment of AP receiving sensitivities, weakens annoyance level of the neighboring trace/time neighboring trace to current operating channel, antijamming capabilities of the lifting AP under closely covering scene.

Description

Method for adjusting signal attenuation, control equipment and wireless access point

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of network communication technologies, and in particular, to a method for adjusting signal attenuation, a control device, and a wireless access point.

Background

With the development of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) services, the deployment density of Wireless Access Points (APs) is increasing, and the problem of signal interference is also getting more serious.

In a scenario where the AP deployment density is high, two adjacent APs are usually set to operate in different channels, for example, the AP1 is set to operate in channel 1, and the AP2 operates in channel 6 or channel 11, so as to avoid co-channel interference between the adjacent APs. The deployment method can effectively solve the problem of co-channel interference, but has the problem of adjacent channel interference, namely, when the signal strength of an adjacent channel or a secondary adjacent channel is too high, the AP is also interfered.

In this regard, the existing solutions are: and controlling a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) in the AP to work in a bypass state to reduce link gain, thereby achieving the purpose of suppressing adjacent channel interference. However, since the signals received by the antenna of the AP are often weak, the link gain of the LNA operating in the bypass state is low, which may cause a problem that the signals are too weak to be demodulated.

Disclosure of Invention

Various aspects of the present application provide a method, a control device, and a wireless access point for adjusting signal attenuation, so as to achieve intelligent adjustment of AP receiving sensitivity, reduce interference degree of an adjacent channel/a secondary adjacent channel to a current working channel, and improve interference resistance of an AP in a close-range coverage scenario.

The embodiment of the application provides a method for adjusting signal attenuation, which is suitable for a wireless Access Point (AP), and comprises the following steps:

when the period arrives, acquiring the signal strength of a first signal which is received by the radio frequency front end of the AP on a working channel of the AP but is not attenuated by the digital attenuator;

searching a mapping relation between a preset data rate and a receiving sensitivity index to obtain the receiving sensitivity index of the AP at the current data rate;

determining the signal intensity attenuation allowed in the period according to the difference value between the signal intensity of the first signal and the receiving sensitivity index of the AP at the current data rate;

and resetting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator according to the signal strength attenuation amount allowed by the period, so that the digital attenuator attenuates the subsequent signals received by the radio frequency front end on the working channel according to the reset attenuation value in the period.

The embodiment of the present application further provides a wireless access point AP, including: the system comprises a radio frequency front end, an Ethernet processing chip and a processor which are connected in sequence; the radio frequency front end comprises a receiving antenna and a digital attenuator; the processor is connected with the digital attenuator;

the processor is configured to obtain, after the arrival of the period, a signal strength of a first signal that is received by the receiving antenna on the operating channel of the AP but is not attenuated by the digital attenuator;

resetting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator according to the signal strength attenuation amount allowed by the period;

the digital attenuator is used for attenuating subsequent signals received by the receiving antenna on the working channel according to the reset attenuation value in the period;

and the Ethernet processing chip is used for processing the subsequent signals attenuated by the digital attenuator according to an Ethernet protocol.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a control device, including: a memory and a processor;

the memory storing one or more program instructions;

the processor, coupled to the memory, to execute the one or more program instructions to:

after the period arrives, acquiring the signal strength of a first signal which is received by the radio frequency front end of the AP on the working channel of the AP and is not attenuated by the digital attenuator;

In the embodiment of the application, a digital attenuator is added at the radio frequency front end of the AP, and the attenuation value of the digital attenuator is reasonably controlled by combining the unattenuated signal strength on the AP working channel and the receiving sensitivity index of the AP at the current data rate, so that the real-time adjustment of the AP receiving sensitivity is realized, the interference degree of the adjacent channel/the secondary adjacent channel on the current working channel is weakened, and the anti-interference capability of the AP in a close-range coverage scene is improved.

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 application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the application and together with the description serve to explain the application and not to limit the application. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an AP according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of an AP according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an AP according to yet another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart illustrating a method for adjusting signal attenuation according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a method for adjusting signal attenuation according to another embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic flow chart diagram illustrating yet another method for adjusting signal attenuation according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a control device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 illustrates the limitations of the spectrum template corresponding to the HT20 mode under the 802.11 protocol.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more apparent, the technical solutions of the present application will be described in detail and completely with reference to the following specific embodiments of the present application and the accompanying drawings. It should be apparent that the described embodiments are only some of the embodiments of the present application, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

In the prior art, a low noise amplifier LNA in an AP is controlled to operate in a bypass (bypass) state to reduce a link gain, so as to achieve the purpose of suppressing adjacent channel/sub-adjacent channel interference. However, since the link gain of the LNA operating in the bypass state is low and the strength of the received signal is weak, a problem of being unable to demodulate because the signal is too weak may be caused. To solve the technical problem, the embodiment of the present application provides a solution, and the main principle is as follows: the digital attenuator is added at the radio frequency front end of the AP, the attenuation value of the digital attenuator is reasonably controlled by combining the unattenuated signal strength on the AP working channel and the receiving sensitivity index of the AP at the current data rate, the real-time adjustment of the AP receiving sensitivity is realized, the interference degree of the adjacent channel/the secondary adjacent channel on the current working channel is weakened, and the anti-interference capability of the AP under the close-range coverage scene is improved.

The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an AP according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the AP mainly includes: the system comprises a radio frequency front end 100, an Ethernet processing chip 101 and a processor 102 which are connected in sequence; the radio frequency front end comprises a receiving antenna 103 and a digital attenuator 104.

As shown in fig. 1, in this embodiment, a digital attenuator 104 is added in the conventional AP, and the digital attenuator 104 is configured to attenuate a link signal according to a received attenuation value, specifically, attenuate a radio frequency signal received by the receiving antenna 103 on an operating channel of the AP. It should be noted that the radio frequency signal received by the receiving antenna 103 on the working channel of the AP includes the working signal on the working channel of the AP, and may also include an interference signal generated by an adjacent channel and/or a secondary adjacent channel of the working channel of the AP on the working channel.

For example, when the working channel of the AP is 1 channel, the receiving antenna 103 receives a radio frequency signal on the 1 channel, and the radio frequency signal received by the receiving antenna 103 includes the working signal of the 1 channel and may also include an interference signal generated by an adjacent channel and/or a secondary adjacent channel of the 1 channel to the 1 channel. The digital attenuator 104 will simultaneously perform signal attenuation operations on the operating signal and the interference signal on the 1 channel received by the receiving antenna 103.

The ethernet processing chip 101 is connected to the digital attenuator 104, and the ethernet processing chip 101 is configured to process the rf signal attenuated by the digital attenuator 104 according to an ethernet protocol, for example, demodulate, extract the strength of the signal, and count the packet loss rate. Alternatively, the ethernet processing chip 101 may be a MAC chip.

As shown in fig. 1, the processor 102 is connected to the ethernet processing chip 101 and the digital attenuator 104, the processor 102 is a control mechanism of the AP, and the intelligent control process inside the AP is mainly implemented by the processor 102. In this embodiment, the processor 102 flexibly adjusts the attenuation value of the digital attenuator 104 mainly according to the signal strength extracted by the ethernet processing chip 101, so as to control the digital attenuator 104 to attenuate the radio frequency signal received by the receiving antenna 103 on the operating channel of the AP.

Since the WLAN environment to which the AP belongs changes in real time, if the attenuation value of the digital attenuator 104 is set according to a fixed value, the WLAN environment that changes in real time may not be applicable, in this embodiment, the AP will periodically perform the operation of adjusting signal attenuation, a waiting time may be set between each period, and after the waiting time is reached, the AP will automatically perform the operation of adjusting signal attenuation in the next period. The present embodiment will be described in detail below with one of the cycles as an example.

In the present embodiment, the operation of periodically adjusting the signal attenuation performed by the AP is mainly a process of periodically adjusting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator 104 by the processor 102, so as to control the digital attenuator 104 to attenuate the radio frequency signal received by the receiving antenna 103 on the operating channel of the AP with different attenuation values at different periods. The process of the processor 102 periodically adjusting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator 104 includes:

after the period arrives, acquiring the signal strength of a first signal which is received by the receiving antenna 103 on the working channel of the AP but is not attenuated by the digital attenuator 104; searching a mapping relation between a preset data rate and a receiving sensitivity index to obtain the receiving sensitivity index of the AP at the current data rate; determining the signal intensity attenuation allowed in the period according to the difference value between the signal intensity of the first signal and the receiving sensitivity index of the AP at the current data rate; the attenuation value of the digital attenuator 104 is reset according to the amount of signal strength attenuation allowed in the present cycle.

In this embodiment, in each cycle, the processor 102 will reset the attenuation value of the digital attenuator 104 in the new cycle according to the signal strength of the operating signal on the AP operating channel that is not attenuated by the digital attenuator 104. Based on this, when the period arrives, the processor 102 will obtain the signal strength of the first signal received by the receiving antenna 103 on the working channel of the AP. The first signal mainly refers to an operating signal on an operating channel of the AP, that is, a signal of a terminal (Station) associated with the AP, and may be a signal of the STA received in a short time after the arrival of the period.

Alternatively, the signal strength of the first signal may be determined from a strength indication (RSSI) value of the received signal of the receiving antenna 103. Alternatively, the relationship between the RSSI value and the signal strength may be P_STARSSI-95, but is not so limited. P_STARepresenting the signal strength of the first signal. The processor 102 may first read the RSSI value of the associated STA in the operating channel; then, determining the signal strength of each STA according to the RSSI value of the associated STA in the working channel; then, the signal strength of the first signal is calculated according to the signal strength of each STA.

When the number of STAs associated with the AP is 1, the signal strength of the first signal is the signal strength corresponding to the STA acquired by the processor 102.

When there are a plurality of STAs associated with the AP, the signal strength of the first signal is an average of the signal strengths of all the associated STAs acquired by the processor 102, or is the maximum signal strength among the signal strengths of all the associated STAs acquired by the processor 102.

For example, when there are n STAs associated with the AP, the signal strength of the first signal acquired by the processor 102 is

After obtaining the signal strength of the first signal, the processor 102 searches a mapping relationship between a preset data rate and a reception sensitivity index to obtain a reception sensitivity index of the AP at the current data rate. The receive sensitivity index refers to a receiver threshold level supported by the AP at the current data rate, that is, a minimum signal strength threshold of the radio frequency signal that can be demodulated by the AP. When the receiving sensitivity of the AP is lower than the receiving sensitivity index, a large amount of packet loss or packet errors will occur in the communication process at the current data rate, and the uplink performance of the AP will be affected.

The mapping relationship between the data rate and the receive sensitivity index may be preset according to design requirements, for example, in an application scenario, the requirements of different data rates on the receive sensitivity index are as shown in table 1 below:

TABLE 1

With reference to table 1, taking an AP supporting a 2.4G band as an example, at the 802.11n MCS7 data rate, the receive sensitivity index corresponding to the AP is-65 dBm, that is, when the signal strength of the STA associated with the AP is lower than-65 dBm, at the MCS7 data rate, there is a large amount of packet loss or packet errors in the communication process.

Alternatively, the data rate to receive sensitivity indicator mapping may be stored in an external memory space that the processor 102 may query. Of course, to save software overhead, the data rate to receive sensitivity index mapping relationship may also be stored in the memory of the processor 102. The processor 102 may directly read the mapping relationship between the data rate and the receive sensitivity index, and obtain the receive sensitivity index corresponding to the current data rate.

The processor 102 determines the allowed signal strength attenuation amount of the present period according to the difference between the signal strength of the first signal and the receiving sensitivity index of the AP at the current data rate, and resets the attenuation value of the digital attenuator 104 according to the allowed signal strength attenuation amount of the present period. Alternatively, in order to determine whether the signal strength attenuation amount allowed by the processor 102 in the present period is reasonable, in this embodiment, after the processor 102 determines from the difference between the signal strength of the first signal and the reception sensitivity index of the AP at the current data rate, the processor 102 may determine whether the difference is not less than 0. If the difference is not less than 0, which indicates that the allowed signal strength attenuation amount in the present period determined by the processor 102 is reasonable, the attenuation value of the digital attenuator 104 can be reset according to the allowed signal strength attenuation amount in the present period; if the difference is less than 0, it indicates that the allowed signal strength attenuation amount of the present cycle is not reasonable as determined by the processor 102, and the processor 102 will not perform the subsequent operation in the present cycle until the next cycle is reached.

In correspondence with the operations performed by the processor 102 described above, the digital attenuator 104 attenuates the subsequent signals received by the receiving antenna 103 on the operating channel in accordance with the reset attenuation value during the present period. Accordingly, the ethernet processing chip 101 may process the subsequent signal attenuated by the digital attenuator 104 according to the ethernet protocol, such as demodulating, extracting signal strength, counting packet loss rate, and the like.

In this embodiment, a digital attenuator is added at the radio frequency front end of the AP, and the attenuation value of the digital attenuator is reasonably controlled by combining the unattenuated signal strength on the AP working channel and the reception sensitivity index of the AP at the current data rate, so that the real-time adjustment of the AP reception sensitivity is realized, the interference degree of the adjacent channel/the next adjacent channel on the current working channel is weakened, and the anti-interference capability of the AP in the close-range coverage scene is improved.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of an AP according to another embodiment of the present application, where the AP is added with an LNA106 on the basis of the AP shown in fig. 1. As shown in fig. 2, in the AP, the radio frequency front end further includes: the LNA106 and the LNA106 are connected between the receiving antenna 103 and the digital attenuator 104, and are used for performing low-noise amplification on the signal received by the receiving antenna.

The operations performed by the receiving antenna 103, the digital attenuator 104, the ethernet processing chip 101, and the processor 102 can be referred to the foregoing embodiments, and are not described herein again.

In this embodiment, the LNA106 is added after the receiving antenna 103 to amplify the radio frequency signal received by the receiving antenna 103, so as to improve the link gain.

As described above, after the period arrives, the processor 102 obtains the signal strength of the first signal received by the receiving antenna 103 on the operating channel of the AP without being attenuated by the digital attenuator 104. In this embodiment, the first signal passes through the LNA106 before reaching the ethernet processing chip 101. When the LNA106 operates in bypass state, the receiving antenna 103 receives a first signal on the operating channel of the AP, and the first signal passes through the LNA106 but is not amplified by the LNA106, then passes through the digital attenuator 104 but is not attenuated by the digital attenuator 104, and then enters the ethernet processing chip 101 for processing. When the LNA106 is in the amplification state, the receiving antenna 103 receives a first signal on the operating channel of the AP, and the first signal passes through the LNA106 and is amplified by the LNA106, then passes through the digital attenuator 104 but is not attenuated by the digital attenuator 104, and then enters the ethernet processing chip 101 for processing.

In the present embodiment, in order to reduce the weight of the attenuation value and the insertion loss of the digital attenuator 104 on the noise figure of the AP, the LNA106 is provided between the digital attenuator 104 and the reception antenna 103, not after the digital attenuator 104. Thus, the AP shown in fig. 2 may be considered a cascaded system with the LNA106 located in a first stage of the cascaded system and the digital attenuator 104 located in a second stage of the cascaded system. Because the first-stage noise of the cascade system has the largest influence on the noise coefficient of the system, the digital attenuator 104 is arranged at the second stage in the cascade system, so that the attenuation value and the insertion loss of the digital attenuator 104 can be reduced to the weight of the noise coefficient of the AP, and the noise coefficient of the cascade system can be reduced to the minimum while the signals are successfully received, thereby improving the signal-to-noise ratio of the AP to a certain extent and optimizing the uplink throughput performance of the AP.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an AP according to yet another embodiment of the present application. The AP may be implemented based on the AP provided in the foregoing embodiments, as shown in fig. 3, the AP further includes: a control chip 105; the control chip 105 is connected between the processor 102 and the digital attenuator 104, and is used for the processor 102 to control the digital attenuator 104 and store the mapping relationship between the signal strength attenuation and the receiving sensitivity variation.

It should be noted that fig. 3 only shows a state where the control chip 105 is added to the AP configuration shown in fig. 1, and of course, the control chip 105 may also be added to the AP configuration shown in fig. 2, and the operations performed by the control chip 105 are the same regardless of whether the control chip is added to the AP configuration shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2.

In this embodiment, the signal strength attenuation amount allowed in the present period determined by the processor 102 is transmitted to the digital attenuator 104 through the control chip 105, and after receiving the signal strength attenuation amount allowed in the present period transmitted by the processor 102, the digital attenuator 104 queries the mapping relationship between the signal strength attenuation amount preset in the control chip 105 and the reception sensitivity variation amount according to the signal strength attenuation amount allowed in the present period, acquires the reception sensitivity variation amount corresponding to the signal strength attenuation amount allowed in the present period, and sets the corresponding reception sensitivity variation amount as a new attenuation value.

The mapping relation between the signal intensity attenuation and the receiving sensitivity variation can be obtained by calculation according to a cascade formula. In one application scenario, a mapping relationship between the signal strength attenuation and the receiving sensitivity variation shown in table 2 can be obtained in combination with actual tests.

TABLE 2

With reference to table 2, when the current data rate is 11b 1M, and when the digital attenuator 104 receives the signal strength attenuation amount allowed in the present period sent by the processor 102 and is 20dB, the digital attenuator 104 queries table 2 stored in the control chip 105, and the digital attenuator 104 can obtain the receiving sensitivity variation amount corresponding to the signal strength attenuation amount allowed in the present period as 8dB, then the attenuation value of the digital attenuator 104 will be set as 8 dB. The digital attenuator 104 will perform signal attenuation processing on the subsequent signals received by the receiving antenna 103 on the operating channel of the AP by an attenuation value of 8 dB.

For the AP, the operation of adjusting the signal attenuation will be performed periodically, so that after the attenuation value for the digital attenuator 104 is determined according to the above embodiments, the digital attenuator 104 will continue to perform the attenuation operation on the subsequent signals received by the receiving antenna 103 according to the attenuation value until the attenuation value of the digital attenuator 104 is reset.

Based on the above, in the above-mentioned embodiment and the following embodiments of the present application, in order to facilitate the processor 102 to obtain the signal strength of the first signal that is not attenuated by the digital attenuator 104 after the arrival of the present period, optionally, the processor 102 may set the attenuation value of the digital attenuator 104 to 0 before obtaining the signal strength of the first signal, or may set the operation mode of the digital attenuator to the bypass mode.

In one approach, the processor 102 may set the attenuation value of the digital attenuator 104 to 0 before acquiring the signal strength of the first signal, so that the digital attenuator 104 does not attenuate the signal. For example, the processor 102 may directly send the attenuation value 0 to the digital attenuator 104 before acquiring the signal strength of the first signal, or the processor 102 sends the attenuation value 0 to the digital attenuator 104 through the control chip 105 to cause the digital attenuator 104 to reset the attenuation value to 0.

In another way, the processor 102 may also control the digital attenuator 104 to switch the operation mode to the bypass mode before acquiring the signal strength of the first signal. For example, the processor 102 may directly send a control signal to the digital attenuator 104 before acquiring the signal strength of the first signal, or the processor 102 may send a control signal to the digital attenuator 104 through the control chip 105, so that the digital attenuator 104 switches the operation mode to the bypass mode according to the control signal. When the digital attenuator 104 operates in the bypass mode, it is only used as a signal path and has no attenuation function.

In this embodiment, before the processor 102 acquires the signal strength of the first signal, the attenuation value of the digital attenuator 104 is reset to 0, or the operating mode is switched to the bypass mode, so that the influence of the digital attenuator 104 on the operating signal received by the receiving antenna is avoided, and the signal strength of the first signal acquired by the processor 102 is infinitely close to the signal strength of the STA associated with the AP, thereby ensuring the accuracy of the recalculated attenuation value of the digital attenuator 104.

In some scenarios, the environment in which the AP is located may be very interfered, and even if signal attenuation is performed, the influence of the interfering signal cannot be ignored, so that it is necessary to determine whether the environment in which the AP is located satisfies the attenuation condition before performing signal attenuation.

In an alternative embodiment, the processor 102 is further configured to: before acquiring the signal strength of the first signal, when the period arrives, acquiring the signal strength of the second signal which is received by the receiving antenna 103 on the working channel and attenuated by the digital attenuator 104, and acquiring the signal strength of the adjacent channel and/or the next adjacent channel signal which is received by the receiving antenna 103 on the adjacent channel and/or the next adjacent channel of the working channel and attenuated by the digital attenuator 104;

and when the signal strength of the second signal and the signal strength of the adjacent channel and/or the secondary adjacent channel signal meet the signal strength relation defined by the spectrum template of the current working mode of the AP, determining that the attenuation value of the digital attenuator needs to be reset.

In this embodiment, the digital attenuator 104 performs attenuation on the working signal according to the attenuation value determined in the previous cycle, and the second signal is the working signal received by the receiving antenna 103 on the working channel and attenuated by the digital attenuator 104, and is the signal received by the receiving antenna 103 before the first signal on the working channel of the AP in the present cycle. The strength of the second signal may be determined by the processor 102 according to the RSSI value of the working signal attenuated by the digital attenuator 104, for example, the processor 102 may read the RSSI value of each associated STA from the ethernet processing chip 101, and then determine the strength according to the RSSI value of each STA.

Then, the AP may be switched to each adjacent channel and the next adjacent channel of its working channel, respectively, and the processor 102 obtains the signal strength of the signal received by the receiving antenna 103 on the switched adjacent channel or the next adjacent channel and attenuated by the digital attenuator 104, so as to obtain the signal strength of each adjacent channel and the next adjacent channel.

For example, if the working channel of the AP is 1 channel, the AP is switched to 6/11 channel, and the signal strength of 6 and 11 channels in the current environment is scanned to obtain P_{Adjacent road}And P_{Sub-adjacent channel}(ii) a If the AP works in a 6-channel, 1 and 11 channels need to be scanned, the two channels are adjacent channels of the 6-channel, and the 6-channel has no secondary adjacent channel under the bandwidth of 20M due to the limitation of the width of a 2.4G frequency band; if the AP operates in 11 channels, channels 1 and 6 need to be scanned, where channel 6 is an adjacent channel and channel 1 is a secondary adjacent channel.

After the signal strength of the second signal and the signal strength of the adjacent channel and/or the next adjacent channel signal are/is obtained, the processor 102 determines whether the attenuation value of the digital attenuator needs to be reset in the present period according to the signal strength relationship defined by the spectrum template of the current operating mode of the AP.

For example, according to the limitation of the spectrum template corresponding to the HT20 mode under the 802.11 protocol shown in fig. 8, it can be seen that the difference between the signal strengths at ± 9MHz, ± 11MHz, ± 20MHz and ± 30MHz is approximately 0dBr, 20dBr, 28dBr and 45 dBr. Based on this, in conjunction with the constraints of the spectrum template shown in FIG. 8, P can be compared based on the frequency difference between adjacent channels and the next adjacent channel_{Adjacent road}And P_{Sub-adjacent channel}And the magnitude of the intensity of the second signal if P is satisfied_{Adjacent road}Less than or equal to-20 dB of the second signal and P_{Sub-adjacent channel}If the intensity of the second signal is less than or equal to-40 dB, continuing to execute the operation of resetting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator in the period; if the above condition is not satisfied, then it is determinedThe current environment interference of the AP is serious, the attenuation value of the digital attenuator is not reset in this period, and the processor 102 will execute the operation of this embodiment again after a preset waiting time until P_{Adjacent road}And P_{Sub-adjacent channel}After the strength of the second signal satisfies the above condition, the processor 102 continues to perform the operation of adjusting the signal attenuation. It is worth noting that both dBr and dB are units representing signal strength, and dBr is a unit representing relative signal strength, which is not much different from dB.

In order to verify the reasonableness of adjusting the signal attenuation, in this embodiment, optionally, the processor 102 may further count a packet loss rate of the second signal as an initial packet loss rate before resetting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator; after the attenuation value of the digital attenuator is reset, the packet loss rate of the subsequent signals attenuated by the digital attenuator is counted; and if the packet loss rate of the subsequent signals is greater than or equal to the initial packet loss rate, continuously adjusting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator according to the preset attenuation value step length until the packet loss rate of the subsequent signals attenuated by the digital attenuator is less than the initial packet loss rate.

In this embodiment, the processor 102 counts the initial packet loss rate before resetting the digital attenuator and the packet loss rate of the subsequent signal after resetting the digital attenuator, and determines whether the attenuation value is reasonable to select by comparing the previous and subsequent packet loss rates. When the packet loss rate of the subsequent signals is smaller than the initial packet loss rate, the attenuation value is reasonably selected; when the packet loss rate of the subsequent signal is greater than or equal to the initial packet loss rate, which indicates that the attenuation value is selected too much, the processor 102 gradually adjusts the attenuation value of the digital attenuator 104 according to the preset attenuation value step length until the packet loss rate of the subsequent signal attenuated by the digital attenuator is less than the initial packet loss rate. The step length of the attenuation value can be preset according to the actual situation.

For example, the step size of the attenuation value may be set to 3dB, and when the packet loss rate of the subsequent signal is greater than or equal to the initial packet loss rate, the processor 102 adjusts the attenuation value of the digital attenuator 104 through the control chip 105 to reduce the current attenuation value of the digital attenuator by 3 dB; then, the processor 102 obtains the packet loss rate and the initial packet loss rate of the subsequent signal again, compares the packet loss rate and the initial packet loss rate, and if the packet loss rate of the subsequent signal is still greater than or equal to the initial packet loss rate, continues to reduce the attenuation value after the digital attenuator 104 is reduced by 3dB again until the packet loss rate of the subsequent signal after the attenuation by the digital attenuator is less than the initial packet loss rate.

In addition to the AP, the embodiments of the present application also provide a method for adjusting signal attenuation, which mainly describes how to reasonably control the attenuation value of the digital attenuator in the AP, and the logic of the method may be executed by a processor inside the AP or an external control device independent from the AP. The method embodiments provided in the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for adjusting signal attenuation according to an embodiment of the present application. The method is applicable to the AP, and as shown in fig. 4, the method includes:

400. when the period arrives, acquiring the signal intensity of a first signal which is received by the radio frequency front end of the AP on a working channel of the AP but is not attenuated by the digital attenuator;

401. searching a mapping relation between a preset data rate and a receiving sensitivity index to obtain the receiving sensitivity index of the AP at the current data rate;

402. determining the signal intensity attenuation allowed in the period according to the difference value between the signal intensity of the first signal and the receiving sensitivity index of the AP at the current data rate;

403. and resetting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator according to the signal strength attenuation amount allowed in the period so that the digital attenuator attenuates the subsequent signals received by the radio frequency front end on the working channel according to the reset attenuation value in the period.

In this embodiment, a digital attenuator is additionally provided in the AP, and the digital attenuator is mainly used to attenuate a subsequent signal received by the radio frequency front end on the working channel according to the reset attenuation value in this period, so as to reduce the interference degree of the adjacent channel/the secondary adjacent channel on the current working channel.

In the embodiment, the attenuation value of the digital attenuator is reasonably controlled by combining the unattenuated signal strength on the AP working channel and the receiving sensitivity index of the AP at the current data rate, so that the real-time adjustment of the receiving sensitivity of the AP is realized, and the anti-interference capability of the AP in a close-range coverage scene is improved.

In the foregoing or the following embodiments, one implementation of the resetting of the attenuation value of the digital attenuator according to the signal strength attenuation allowed in the present cycle includes:

and sending the signal strength attenuation amount allowed in the period to a digital attenuator so as to control the digital attenuator to acquire the receiving sensitivity variation corresponding to the signal strength attenuation amount allowed in the period from a preset mapping relation between the signal strength attenuation amount and the receiving sensitivity variation and set the corresponding receiving sensitivity variation as a new attenuation value.

In the present embodiment, the mapping relationship between the signal intensity attenuation amount and the reception sensitivity variation amount may be stored in a memory of the digital signal attenuator or in the control chip. Based on this, when the digital attenuator receives the signal strength attenuation allowed in the present period, the preset mapping relationship between the signal strength attenuation and the receiving sensitivity variation can be read from the memory of the digital signal attenuator or from the control chip, so as to obtain the receiving sensitivity variation corresponding to the signal strength attenuation allowed in the present period and set the corresponding receiving sensitivity variation as a new attenuation value.

Optionally, another embodiment of the above resetting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator according to the allowed signal strength attenuation amount in the present period includes:

and searching a mapping relation between the preset signal intensity attenuation amount and the receiving sensitivity variation amount, acquiring the receiving sensitivity variation amount corresponding to the signal intensity attenuation amount allowed in the period as a new attenuation value, and configuring the new attenuation value into the digital attenuator.

In this embodiment, the mapping relationship between the signal strength attenuation and the reception sensitivity variation may be stored in the processor of the AP or in a memory that can be queried by the processor of the AP. Based on this, when the signal strength attenuation allowed in the present period is determined, the preset mapping relationship between the signal strength attenuation and the reception sensitivity variation may be read from the processor of the AP or the memory that the processor of the AP can query, the reception sensitivity variation corresponding to the signal strength attenuation allowed in the present period may be acquired as a new attenuation value, and the new attenuation value may be configured in the digital attenuator.

In the foregoing or the following embodiments, before acquiring the signal strength of the first signal received by the rf front end of the AP on the operating channel of the AP without being attenuated by the digital attenuator, the method further includes: setting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator to 0; alternatively, the operation mode of the digital attenuator is set to a bypass mode so as to provide a signal path that is not attenuated by the digital attenuator.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for adjusting signal attenuation according to another embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 5, the method includes:

500. and when the period arrives, acquiring the signal intensity of the second signal which is received by the radio frequency front end on the working channel and attenuated by the digital attenuator, and acquiring the signal intensity of the adjacent channel and/or the secondary adjacent channel signal which is received by the radio frequency front end on the adjacent channel and/or the secondary adjacent channel of the working channel and attenuated by the digital attenuator.

501. And judging whether the signal strength of the second signal and the signal strength of the adjacent channel and/or the secondary adjacent channel signal meet the signal strength relation defined by the frequency spectrum template of the current working mode of the AP or not, if so, executing the step 502, and if not, executing the step 500 after a preset waiting time.

502. The signal strength of a first signal received by a radio frequency front end of an AP on an operating channel of the AP but not attenuated by a digital attenuator is obtained.

503. And searching a mapping relation between the preset data rate and the receiving sensitivity index to obtain the receiving sensitivity index of the AP at the current data rate.

504. And determining the allowable signal strength attenuation amount in the period according to the difference value between the signal strength of the first signal and the receiving sensitivity index of the AP at the current data rate.

505. And resetting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator according to the signal strength attenuation amount allowed in the period so that the digital attenuator attenuates the subsequent signals received by the radio frequency front end on the working channel according to the reset attenuation value in the period.

In this embodiment, the first signal is a signal subsequent to the second signal, and the first and second signals are only distinguished, and there is no limitation on the order and number.

In this embodiment, before performing signal attenuation, it is determined whether the environment where the AP is located meets an attenuation condition, and when the environment where the AP is located is very serious in interference, the subsequent signal attenuation operation is not performed, but the signal attenuation operation is performed again after waiting for the environment where the AP is located to meet the attenuation condition, thereby avoiding performing useless signal attenuation operation.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flowchart of another method for adjusting signal attenuation according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 6, the method includes:

600. and when the period arrives, acquiring the signal intensity of the second signal which is received by the radio frequency front end on the working channel and attenuated by the digital attenuator, and acquiring the signal intensity of the adjacent channel and/or the secondary adjacent channel signal which is received by the radio frequency front end on the adjacent channel and/or the secondary adjacent channel of the working channel and attenuated by the digital attenuator.

601. And judging whether the signal strength of the second signal and the signal strength of the adjacent channel and/or the secondary adjacent channel signal meet the signal strength relation defined by the frequency spectrum template of the current working mode of the AP or not, if so, executing step 602, and if not, executing step 600 after a preset waiting time.

602. The signal strength of a first signal received by a radio frequency front end of an AP on an operating channel of the AP but not attenuated by a digital attenuator is obtained.

603. And searching a mapping relation between the preset data rate and the receiving sensitivity index to obtain the receiving sensitivity index of the AP at the current data rate.

604. And determining the allowable signal strength attenuation amount in the period according to the difference value between the signal strength of the first signal and the receiving sensitivity index of the AP at the current data rate.

605. And counting the packet loss rate of the second signal as the initial packet loss rate.

606. And resetting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator according to the signal strength attenuation amount allowed in the period so that the digital attenuator attenuates the subsequent signals received by the radio frequency front end on the working channel according to the reset attenuation value in the period.

607. And counting the packet loss rate of the subsequent signals attenuated by the digital attenuator.

608. Judging whether the packet loss rate of the subsequent signals is greater than or equal to the initial packet loss rate, if so, executing step 609, and if not, waiting for the next period to arrive.

609. And continuously adjusting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator according to the preset attenuation value step length, returning to the step 605 to continue executing the step 605 and the subsequent steps until the packet loss rate of the subsequent signals attenuated by the digital attenuator is less than the initial packet loss rate.

In this embodiment, a step of verifying whether the attenuation value is reasonable is added to the embodiment shown in fig. 5, and when the attenuation value is too large, the attenuation value of the digital attenuator is continuously adjusted according to a preset attenuation value step length, so that the attenuation value is adjustable in multiple stages, and the adjustment precision is high, so that a reasonable attenuation value can be obtained, and the real-time adjustment of the AP receiving sensitivity is realized.

It should be noted that the execution subjects of the steps of the methods provided in the above embodiments may be the same device, or different devices may be used as the execution subjects of the methods. For example, the execution subjects of steps 400 to 403 may be device a; for another example, the execution subject of steps 400 and 402 may be device a, and the execution subject of step 403 may be device B; and so on.

In addition, in some of the flows described in the above embodiments and the drawings, a plurality of operations are included in a specific order, but it should be clearly understood that the operations may be executed out of the order presented herein or in parallel, and the sequence numbers of the operations, such as 401, 402, etc., are merely used to distinguish various operations, and the sequence numbers themselves do not represent any execution order. Additionally, the flows may include more or fewer operations, and the operations may be performed sequentially or in parallel. It should be noted that, the descriptions of "first", "second", etc. in this document are used for distinguishing different messages, devices, modules, etc., and do not represent a sequential order, nor limit the types of "first" and "second" to be different.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a control device according to another embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 7, the control apparatus includes: memory 71, processor 72 and communication component 73.

The memory 71 is used for storing computer programs and may be configured to store other various data to support operations on the control device. Examples of such data include instructions for any application or method operating on the control device, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, videos, and the like.

The memory 71 may be implemented by any type or combination of volatile or non-volatile memory devices, such as Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic memory, flash memory, magnetic or optical disks.

A processor 72, coupled to the memory 71, for executing computer programs in the memory 71 for:

after the period arrives, acquiring the signal strength of a first signal which is received by the radio frequency front end of the AP on a working channel of the AP and is not attenuated by the digital attenuator;

and resetting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator according to the signal strength attenuation amount allowed in the period so that the digital attenuator attenuates the subsequent signals received by the radio frequency front end on the working channel according to the reset attenuation value in the period.

In an alternative embodiment, the processor 72 is specifically configured to, when resetting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator according to the signal strength attenuation allowed in the present period:

sending the signal intensity attenuation allowed in the period to a digital attenuator to control the digital attenuator to acquire a receiving sensitivity variation corresponding to the signal intensity attenuation allowed in the period from a preset mapping relation of the signal intensity attenuation and the receiving sensitivity variation and set the corresponding receiving sensitivity variation as a new attenuation value; or

In an alternative embodiment, the processor 72, before obtaining the signal strength of the first signal received by the rf front end of the AP on the operating channel of the AP without being attenuated by the digital attenuator, is further configured to:

setting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator to 0; or,

the operation mode of the digital attenuator is set to the bypass mode.

when the period arrives, acquiring the signal intensity of a second signal which is received by the radio frequency front end on the working channel and attenuated by the digital attenuator, and acquiring the signal intensity of an adjacent channel and/or a secondary adjacent channel signal which is received by the radio frequency front end on an adjacent channel and/or a secondary adjacent channel of the working channel and attenuated by the digital attenuator;

In an alternative embodiment, processor 72 is further configured to:

before the attenuation value of the digital attenuator is reset, counting the packet loss rate of the second signal as the initial packet loss rate;

after the attenuation value of the digital attenuator is reset, the packet loss rate of subsequent signals attenuated by the digital attenuator is counted;

and if the packet loss rate of the subsequent signals is greater than or equal to the initial packet loss rate, continuously adjusting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator according to the preset attenuation value step length until the packet loss rate of the subsequent signals attenuated by the digital attenuator is less than the initial packet loss rate.

Further, as shown in fig. 7, the control apparatus further includes: a display 74, power components 75, audio components 76, and the like. Only some of the components are schematically shown in fig. 7, and it is not intended that the control device includes only the components shown in fig. 7.

Wherein the communication component 73 is configured to facilitate communication between the device in which the communication component is located and other devices in a wired or wireless manner. The device in which the communication component is located may access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as WiFi, 2G or 3G, or a combination thereof. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component receives a broadcast signal or broadcast related information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In one exemplary embodiment, the communication component further includes a Near Field Communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communications. For example, the NFC module may be implemented based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, infrared data association (IrDA) technology, Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology, Bluetooth (BT) technology, and other technologies.

The display 74 includes a screen, which may include a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) and a Touch Panel (TP), among others. If the screen includes a touch panel, the screen may be implemented as a touch screen to receive an input signal from a user. The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touch, slide, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensor may not only sense the boundary of a touch or slide action, but also detect the duration and pressure associated with the touch or slide operation.

The power supply unit 75 provides power to the various components of the device in which the power supply unit is located. The power components may include a power management system, one or more power supplies, and other components associated with generating, managing, and distributing power for the device in which the power component is located.

The audio component 76 may be configured to output and/or input audio signals, among other things. For example, the audio component includes a Microphone (MIC) configured to receive an external audio signal when the device in which the audio component is located is in an operational mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and a voice recognition mode. The received audio signal may further be stored in a memory or transmitted via a communication component. In some embodiments, the audio assembly further comprises a speaker for outputting audio signals.

Accordingly, the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, where the computer program can implement the steps in the above method embodiments when executed.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present invention is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

In a typical configuration, a computing device includes one or more processors (CPUs), input/output interfaces, network interfaces, and memory.

The memory may include forms of volatile memory in a computer readable medium, Random Access Memory (RAM) and/or non-volatile memory, such as Read Only Memory (ROM) or flash memory (flash RAM). Memory is an example of a computer-readable medium.

Computer-readable media, including both non-transitory and non-transitory, removable and non-removable media, may implement information storage by any method or technology. The information may be computer readable instructions, data structures, modules of a program, or other data. Examples of computer storage media include, but are not limited to, phase change memory (PRAM), Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), other types of Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technology, compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), Digital Versatile Discs (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other non-transmission medium that can be used to store information that can be accessed by a computing device. As defined herein, a computer readable medium does not include a transitory computer readable medium such as a modulated data signal and a carrier wave.

It should also be noted that the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

The above description is only an example of the present application and is not intended to limit the present application. Various modifications and changes may occur to those skilled in the art. Any modification, equivalent replacement, improvement, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present application should be included in the scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for adjusting signal attenuation in a wireless access point, AP, the method comprising:

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said resetting the attenuation value of said digital attenuator based on the amount of signal strength attenuation allowed for said present period comprises:

sending the signal intensity attenuation amount allowed in the period to the digital attenuator so as to control the digital attenuator to acquire a receiving sensitivity variation corresponding to the signal intensity attenuation amount allowed in the period from a preset mapping relation between the signal intensity attenuation amount and the receiving sensitivity variation and set the corresponding receiving sensitivity variation as a new attenuation value; or

And searching a mapping relation between preset signal intensity attenuation and receiving sensitivity variation, acquiring the receiving sensitivity variation corresponding to the signal intensity attenuation allowed in the period as a new attenuation value, and configuring the new attenuation value into the digital attenuator.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to obtaining the signal strength of the first signal received by the radio frequency front end of the AP on the operating channel of the AP without being attenuated by the digital attenuator:

setting an attenuation value of the digital attenuator to 0; or,

setting the operation mode of the digital attenuator to a bypass mode.

4. The method of any of claims 1-3, further comprising, prior to obtaining the signal strength of the first signal received by the radio frequency front end of the AP on the AP's operating channel without being attenuated by the digital attenuator:

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

before the attenuation value of the digital attenuator is reset, counting the packet loss rate of the second signal as an initial packet loss rate;

after the attenuation value of the digital attenuator is reset, counting the packet loss rate of the subsequent signals attenuated by the digital attenuator;

if the packet loss rate of the subsequent signal is greater than or equal to the initial packet loss rate, continuously adjusting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator according to a preset attenuation value step length until the packet loss rate of the subsequent signal after being attenuated by the digital attenuator is less than the initial packet loss rate.

6. A wireless Access Point (AP), comprising: the system comprises a radio frequency front end, an Ethernet processing chip and a processor which are connected in sequence; the radio frequency front end comprises a receiving antenna and a digital attenuator; the processor is connected with the digital attenuator;

7. The AP of claim 6, wherein the radio frequency front end further comprises: and the LNA is connected between the receiving antenna and the digital attenuator and is used for carrying out low-noise amplification on the signal received by the receiving antenna.

8. The AP of claim 6, further comprising: a control chip; the control chip is connected between the processor and the digital attenuator and is used for controlling the digital attenuator by the processor and storing a mapping relation between signal intensity attenuation and receiving sensitivity variation;

when resetting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator, the processor is specifically configured to: sending the signal intensity attenuation allowed by the period to the digital attenuator through the control chip;

the digital attenuator is further configured to: and inquiring a mapping relation between the signal intensity attenuation and the receiving sensitivity variation preset in the control chip, acquiring the receiving sensitivity variation corresponding to the signal intensity attenuation allowed in the period, and setting the corresponding receiving sensitivity variation as a new attenuation value.

9. The AP of claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to: before acquiring the signal strength of the first signal, setting the attenuation value of the digital attenuator to 0, or setting the operation mode of the digital attenuator to a bypass mode.

10. The AP of any one of claims 6-9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

before acquiring the signal strength of the first signal, when the period arrives, acquiring the signal strength of a second signal which is received by the receiving antenna on the working channel and attenuated by the digital attenuator, and acquiring the signal strength of an adjacent channel and/or a next adjacent channel signal which is received by the receiving antenna on an adjacent channel and/or a next adjacent channel of the working channel and attenuated by the digital attenuator;

11. The AP of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to:

12. A control apparatus, characterized by comprising: a memory and a processor;

the memory storing one or more program instructions;