KR20170045509A - Wireless network setup method and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for setting a wireless network and an apparatus therefor. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for setting a wireless network, which searches for a master beacon to replace an existing master beacon so as to manage a slave beacon when a wireless network cannot be efficiently maintained because a signal recognition rate of the slave beacon, managed by the existing master beacon, is low and resets the wireless network so that the wireless network operates efficiently, and also relates to an apparatus therefor. A master beacon periodically measures signal recognition rates of slave beacons managed by the master beacon, and cancels a connection to a slave beacon, a signal recognition rate of which is equal to or lower than a preset threshold value. Another master beacon suitable for management of the slave beacon, to which a connection has been cancelled, is searched for, and the found other master beacon is connected to the slave beacon to which a connection has been cancelled. Accordingly, a wireless mesh network can be efficiently managed.

Description

Technical Field [0001] The present invention relates to a wireless network setup method and apparatus,

The present invention relates to a wireless network setting method and apparatus therefor, and more particularly, to a wireless network setting method and apparatus therefor, and more particularly, to a wireless network setting method and apparatus therefor. More specifically, when a signal recognition rate of a slave beacon managed by a master beacon is low, And more particularly to a method and apparatus for efficiently reconfiguring a wireless network by searching for another master beacon to be performed.

The contents described in this section merely provide background information on the present embodiment and do not constitute the prior art.

In general, a wireless network has a star topology structure of a point to point and a point to multi point, but recently, a mesh of a multipoint to multipoint such as a wired network ) -Type wireless network is increasingly attracting attention.

The characteristics of the wireless mesh network are that it is easy to expand the network without connection with the wired network, and has advantages in flexibility and scalability of the network, such as speedy and economical installation of the network and redundancy by providing multi-path.

In the existing wired network environment, an access point (AP) is called a repeater or a wireless router, and all APs are wired.

However, if only the representative AP is connected to the wired network, the mesh network is a method in which wireless communication routers serving as an antenna, like an existing wireless communication base station, become mesh nodes and wirelessly connect all sections.

The network structure of the wired network has been introduced to overcome the limitation of the existing wireless LAN with the same structure in the wireless network.

For example, it seems to have expanded the hotspan zone built by telcos to a wider range.

If the hotspot zone allows anybody to connect to WiFi and use the wireless network in any building, the mesh network can be said to be a technology for constructing wireless networks of larger resorts, large parks, and ports.

Of course, it is also possible to connect a much wider area to the wireless network depending on the technology.

By building a mesh network, users can use the network in a similar procedure to accessing Wi-Fi.

This is not only a network connection in a disaster situation, it is difficult to establish a wired network, but also a home networking. Therefore, it is attracting attention as a technology that is indispensable in the ubiquitous era mentioned for many years ago.

Also, with the development of the mobile communication network and the development of the terminal specification, the mobile communication terminal has become a necessity of modern people and has evolved into a total entertainment device beyond the conventional category of simple communication apparatus or information providing apparatus.

The mobile communication terminal has a function for performing near field communication such as NFC (Near Field Communication) or Bluetooth (Bluetooth) as well as a communication function through a mobile communication network.

However, NFC has a short communication distance and requires a separate wireless chip for communication, while Bluetooth has a relatively long communication distance and most terminals are equipped with a Bluetooth communication function, and various communication services using the same are being developed.

A service scheme for providing various information to a mobile communication terminal possessed by a user using a beacon using Bluetooth communication has been developed and an example of building a mesh network using a beacon device using the Bluetooth communication .

In order to efficiently operate the wireless mesh network, one master beacon uses one or more slave beacon management structures, and one master beacon can manage up to seven slave beacons.

However, in some cases, it may not be efficient for the master beacon to manage the slave beacon due to a change of the wireless environment or other circumstances between the master beacon and the slave beacon.

Previously, in this case, manually locating the slave beacon, manually connecting the slave beacon to the other master beacon by manual operation, or manually adjusting the sending power of the smart beacon and the slave beacon, effectively resets the wireless mesh network It took a lot of time and money to do it.

Therefore, there is a need for a method for automatically reconfiguring an efficient wireless mesh network by checking the connection status of slave beacons.

Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 1998-702607 (titled "Method for determining additional routes between nodes in a communication network and nodes used in the network," Aug. 5, 1998)

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention provides a method of controlling a slave beacon in which a master beacon periodically measures a signal perception rate of a slave beacon managed by the master beacon, releases a connection with a slave beacon whose signal perception rate is less than a predetermined threshold value, A master beacon suitable for managing the master beacon, and connecting the searched other master beacon and the revoked slave beacon, thereby providing a method and apparatus for efficiently managing the wireless mesh network.

In addition, if the signal recognition rate of the slave beacon is less than or equal to the predetermined threshold value, if the signal recognition rate of the master beacon and the slave beacon is increased before the connection is released and the signal recognition rate becomes higher than a predetermined threshold value, We want to derive a more efficient slave beacon management scheme by increasing the power timing, or otherwise searching for other master beacons to manage slave beacons.

However, the object of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects not mentioned can be clearly understood from the following description.

In order to accomplish the above object, a master beacon according to the present invention comprises a first communication module for wirelessly connecting with a slave beacon to transmit and receive data, a second communication module for transmitting and receiving data to and from a beacon management server, A signal recognition rate which is a rate at which a signal of the slave beacon periodically transmitted is detected at a predetermined signal intensity or more is measured and if the recognition rate is equal to or less than a preset threshold value, a connection cancellation request is transmitted to the beacon management server or the slave beacon And a control module for controlling the slave beacon to be connected to another master beacon after the slave beacon is disconnected.

At this time, the control module controls to increase the transmission power intensity of at least one of the slave beacon signal and the master beacon signal before the connection cancellation request, re-measures the signal recognition rate, And transmits a connection cancellation request to the beacon management server after transmitting a connection cancellation request to the beacon management server when the acknowledgment message for the request is received is less than a preset threshold value, Can be disconnected.

In addition, when the control module receives a connection request message with another slave beacon from the beacon management server, the control module may transmit a connection request message to the other slave beacons to connect with the other slave beacons, It is possible to search for the other slave beacon while controlling the first communication module so that the signal transmission intensity is gradually increased.

In order to accomplish the above object, a slave beacon according to the present invention includes a communication module for transmitting and receiving data with at least one master beacon, and a communication module for receiving a connection cancellation message from a master beacon wirelessly connected through the communication module, A control module for searching for another master beacon except for the master beacon while controlling the transmission power of the module, and for transmitting a connection request message to the searched other master beacon.

At this time, the control module can search the transmission power step by step.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of establishing a wireless network, the method comprising: sensing a signal periodically transmitted by a slave beacon for a predetermined period of time; Measuring a signal perception rate that is a rate at which the signal is sensed; transmitting a connection release request to the beacon management server or the slave beacon if the measured perceived rate is less than or equal to a preset threshold value; And controlling to connect with the master beacon.

The method of claim 1, further comprising increasing the transmit power of at least one of the slave beacon signal and the master beacon signal prior to transmitting the connection cancellation request, And disconnecting the connection with the slave beacon upon receipt of the grant message for the connection cancellation request.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of establishing a wireless network, the method comprising: receiving a connection request message from a beacon management server to a master beacon; transmitting a connection request message to the slave beacon; And connecting the slave beacon to the slave beacon.

In this case, the step of transmitting the request message may further include increasing the signal transmission intensity step by step to search for the slave beacon.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of establishing a wireless network, the method comprising: receiving a connection release message from a master beacon wirelessly connected to a slave beacon; Searching for a master beacon other than the master beacon, and transmitting a connection request message to the searched other master beacon.

At this time, the searching step can search the signal transmission intensity step by step.

On the other hand, the wireless network setting method may be provided as a computer-readable recording medium on which a program for executing the program is recorded, and may be provided as a computer program stored in a computer-readable recording medium.

According to the present invention, the master beacon periodically measures the signal perception rate of the slave beacons managed by the master beacon, thereby terminating the connection with the slave beacon having the signal perception rate less than a preset threshold value and appropriately managing the revoked slave beacon It is possible to efficiently manage the wireless mesh network by searching for another master beacon and connecting the searched other master beacon to the revoked slave beacon.

In addition, if the signal recognition rate of the slave beacon is less than or equal to the predetermined threshold value, if the signal recognition rate of the master beacon and the slave beacon is increased before the connection is released and the signal recognition rate becomes higher than a predetermined threshold value, A more efficient slave beacon management scheme can be derived by increasing the power timing and otherwise searching for other master beacons to manage slave beacons.

In addition, various effects other than the above-described effects can be directly or implicitly disclosed in the detailed description according to the embodiment of the present invention to be described later.

1 is a block diagram of a system for setting a wireless network according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 to 4 are data flow charts for explaining an embodiment of setting a wireless network according to the present invention.
5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a master beacon according to the present invention.
6 to 8 are flowcharts for explaining a method of operating a master beacon according to an embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a slave beacon according to the present invention.
10 to 11 are flowcharts for explaining a method of operating a slave beacon according to an embodiment of the present invention.
12 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a beacon management server according to the present invention.
13 is a flowchart illustrating an operation method of a beacon management server according to an embodiment of the present invention.
14 is a diagram illustrating an operating environment in a system for setting a wireless network according to an embodiment of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS For a more complete understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

In the following description and the accompanying drawings, detailed description of well-known functions or constructions that may obscure the subject matter of the present invention will be omitted. It should be noted that the same constituent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals as possible throughout the drawings.

The terms and words used in the following description and drawings are not to be construed in an ordinary sense or a dictionary, and the inventor can properly define his or her invention as a concept of a term to be described in the best way It should be construed as meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments described in the present specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are merely the most preferred embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the technical ideas of the present invention are described. Therefore, It is to be understood that equivalents and modifications are possible.

Also, terms including ordinal numbers such as first, second, etc. are used to describe various elements, and are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one element from another, Not used. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the second component may be referred to as a first component, and similarly, the first component may also be referred to as a second component.

Also, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. It is also to be understood that the terms such as " comprising "or" having ", as used herein, are intended to specify the presence of stated features, integers, It should be understood that the foregoing does not preclude the presence or addition of other features, numbers, steps, operations, elements, parts, or combinations thereof.

Also, the terms "part," "module," and the like, which are described in the specification, refer to a unit for processing at least one function or operation, and may be implemented by hardware or software or a combination of hardware and software. Also, the terms " a or ", "one "," the ", and the like are synonyms in the context of describing the invention (particularly in the context of the following claims) May be used in a sense including both singular and plural, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

In addition to the above-described terms, certain terms used in the following description are provided to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and the use of such specific terms may be changed to other forms without departing from the technical idea of the present invention.

In addition, embodiments within the scope of the present invention include computer readable media having or carrying computer executable instructions or data structures stored in computer readable media. Such computer-readable media can be any available media that is accessible by a general purpose or special purpose computer system.

By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or in the form of computer- But is not limited to, a physical storage medium such as any other medium that can be used to store or communicate certain program code means of the general purpose or special purpose computer system, .

In addition, the invention may be practiced with other computer systems, including personal computers, laptop computers, handheld devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, a pager, and the like. < RTI ID = 0.0 > [0040] < / RTI >

The invention may also be practiced in distributed systems environments where both local and remote computer systems linked by a combination of wired data links, wireless data links, or wired and wireless data links over a network perform tasks. In a distributed system environment, program modules may be located in local and remote memory storage devices.

In addition, the method of measuring the performance of the base station using the beacon technique according to the present invention will be described based on the data communication technology of the BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) method.

While NFC is only available within a few tens of centimeters, the Bluetooth method can operate in the range of several tens of meters, and its application field is widely applied. In particular, Bluetooth does not need to be tagged like a NFC near a reader, so data can be transmitted only when the beacon is installed, and detailed data can be read and personalized in the building.

However, the method of measuring the performance of a base station according to the present invention is not limited to BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) or Bluetooth, and may be applied to a personal area (PAN) such as Zigbee, Ultra-WideBand (UWB), ANT, Wi- Network) type of local communication techniques are applicable.

For the sake of convenience of explanation, it is assumed in this specification that there are two master beacons and one slave beacon. The slave beacons are managed by a first master beacon, and the second master beacons are managed by a first master beacon and a slave beacon The slave beacon may be managed in place of the first master beacon. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the role of the first master beacon and the second master beacon may be changed.

In addition, each master beacon does not necessarily manage only one slave beacon, and may manage a plurality of slave beacons.

That is, a slave beacon other than the slave beacon for explanation may be under the management of the first master beacon, and a slave beacon for explanation may be managed by a plurality of other slave beacons This can be.

In other words, both the master beacon and the slave beacon can be plural.

Now, a wireless network setting device in a system for executing a wireless network setting method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the structure of a wireless network setting system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 4 are data flow charts for explaining various embodiments of a wireless network setting method according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a wireless network configuration system according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a plurality of master beacons 200, a slave beacon 300, and a beacon management server 400.

Here, the master beacon 200 transmits and receives data through the BLE communication method with the slave beacon 300. However, the master beacon 200 is not limited thereto as described above, and can be applied to any of various PAN communication systems.

The master beacon 200 and the beacon management server 400 are linked through the communication network 100.

Each component will now be schematically described with reference to FIG.

First, the communication network 100 transmits data for transmitting / receiving data between a plurality of master beacons 200 and the beacon management server 400. The communication network 100 may include Ethernet, xDSL (ADSL, VDSL) WLAN (Wireless LAN), Wi-Fi, WiBro (Fiber to the Curb), FTTH (Fiber To The Home) ), WiMAX, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A).

In addition, the communication network 100 may include a plurality of access networks (not shown) and a core network (not shown), and may include an external network such as an Internet network (not shown). Here, the access network (not shown) is an access network for performing wired / wireless communication with the master beacon 200 and includes a plurality of base stations such as a BS (Base Station), a BTS (Base Transceiver Station), a NodeB, an eNodeB, (Base Station Controller), and an RNC (Radio Network Controller). Also, as described above, the digital signal processing unit and the radio signal processing unit integrally implemented in the base station are divided into digital units (hereinafter, referred to as DUs and radio units (RUs) A plurality of RUs (not shown) may be provided in each of a plurality of areas, and a plurality of RUs (not shown) may be connected to a centralized DU (not shown).

A core network (not shown) constituting a mobile network together with an access network (not shown) performs a role of connecting an access network (not shown) and an external network (not shown), for example, an Internet network (not shown).

As described above, the core network (not shown) is a network system that performs main functions for mobile communication services such as mobility control and switching between access networks (not shown), and includes a circuit switching or a packet exchange and manages and controls the packet flow in the mobile network.

The core network (not shown) manages inter-frequency mobility and plays a role for interworking with traffic in an access network (not shown) and a core network (not shown) and other networks such as the Internet It is possible. Such a core network (not shown) may further include an SGW (Serving Gate Way), a PGW (PDN GateWay), an MSC (Mobile Switching Center), a HLR (Home Location Register), a MME (Mobile Mobility Entity) .

In addition, the Internet network (not shown) refers to a public network, that is, a public network, in which information is exchanged according to the TCP / IP protocol. The Internet network is connected to the master beacon 200, The information provided to the beacon management server 400 can be provided to the beacon management server 400 via the core network (not shown) and the access network (not shown) The master beacon 200 may be provided. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the beacon management server 400 may be implemented integrally with a core network (not shown).

In addition to the above-described communication methods, other widely known or later-developed communication methods may be included.

A plurality of master beacons 200 and a plurality of slave beacons 300 are installed at predetermined positions for a normal beacon service, and are devices for periodically transmitting beacon signals. At this time, the beacon signal may include beacon identification information such as unique identification information or position information allocated to the master beacon 200 and the slave beacon 300, and the beacon identification information may be transmitted to the terminal apparatus (not shown) Beacon service.

In particular, in the present invention, the master beacon 200 is connected to the slave beacon 300 through a local area network (PAN) to manage the slave beacon 300, and transmits a certain command message or a request message to the slave beacon 300 And controls the slave beacon 300.

In this case, one master beacon 200 does not necessarily manage one slave beacon 300, it can manage a plurality of slave beacons 300, and can control other master beacons 200 and a local area network (PAN) Lt; / RTI >

The master beacon 200 may be controlled by the beacon management server 400 through the communication network 100.

In the present invention, the slave beacon 300 is connected to the master beacon 200 through a LAN, and is controlled by the master beacon 200.

Here, the master beacon 200 and the slave beacon 300 may be connected through pairing and bonding, and the master beacon 200 periodically transmits / receives to maintain connection with the slave beacon 300 The signal recognition rate of the slave beacon 300 can be measured.

On the other hand, the signal recognition rate is a rate at which the signal of the slave beacon periodically transmitted for a predetermined period of time is detected at a predetermined signal intensity or more.

When the beacon management server 400 receives a connection cancellation request from the master beacon 200, the beacon management server 400 searches for an alternative path to approve the connection cancellation request and connects to the slave beacon 300 It is possible to make a connection request with the slave beacon 300 to another master beacon 200 as much as possible.

That is, the beacon management server 400 requests connection and disconnection between the master beacon 200 managed by the beacon management server 400 and the slave beacon 300, thereby managing one wireless network connection state Can be controlled.

The beacon management server 400 according to the embodiment of the present invention has a hardware configuration similar to that of a typical Web server or a network server.

However, the software includes a program module implemented through a language such as C, C ++, Java, Visual Basic, Visual C, or the like.

On the other hand, the memory mounted on each device of the present invention stores information in the device. In one implementation, the memory is a computer-readable medium. In one implementation, the memory may be a volatile memory unit, and in other embodiments, the memory may be a non-volatile memory unit. In one implementation, the storage device is a computer-readable medium.

In various different implementations, the storage device may comprise, for example, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, or any other mass storage device.

In addition, the term '~ module' used in the embodiment of the present invention means a software component, and '~ module' performs certain roles. By way of example, '~ module' may include components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components and task components, and processes, functions, attributes, procedures, Routines, segments of program code, drivers, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. In addition, the functions provided in the components and 'modules' may be combined into a smaller number of components and '~ modules' or further separated into additional components and 'modules'.

Although the present specification and drawings describe exemplary device configurations, the functional operations and subject matter implementations described herein may be embodied in other types of digital electronic circuitry, or alternatively, of the structures disclosed herein and their structural equivalents May be embodied in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including, or in combination with, one or more of the foregoing. Implementations of the subject matter described herein may be embodied in one or more computer program products, i. E. One for computer program instructions encoded on a program storage medium of the type for < RTI ID = 0.0 & And can be implemented as a module as described above.

The computer-readable medium can be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition of matter that affects the machine readable propagation type signal, or a combination of one or more of the foregoing.

Now, various embodiments of a wireless network setting method according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG.

2, a first master beacon 200a connected to a slave beacon 300 is periodically connected to a slave beacon 300a for connection maintenance, (Step S1001).

The first master beacon 200a senses a signal periodically transmitted by the slave beacon 300 and measures a rate at which the periodically transmitted signal is sensed at a predetermined signal intensity or more, (S1003), and it is determined whether the signal recognition rate is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value (S1005).

If the signal recognition rate is less than a predetermined threshold value, the beacon management server 400 transmits a connection cancellation request to disconnect the slave beacon 300 (S1007) The server 400 is connected to the slave beacon 300 instead of the first master beacon 200a to search for another master beacon to manage the slave beacon 300. [

That is, the beacon management server 400 receiving the connection cancellation request searches for an alternative path of the wireless network (S1009).

The beacon management server 400 is connected to the slave beacon 300 on behalf of the first master beacon 200a and the other master beacons 200b to manage the slave beacons 300 , It transmits a connection request message to the second master beacon 200b to connect with the slave beacon 300 (S1011).

In addition, the connection cancellation approval message may be transmitted to the first master beacon 200a that made the connection cancellation request (S1013).

The first master beacon 200a having received the connection cancellation acknowledgment message cancels the connection with the slave beacon 300 in step S1015 and receives a connection request from the beacon management server 400 to the slave beacon 300 The second master beacon 200b is connected to the slave beacon 300 through a pairing process (S1017).

At this time, the second master beacon 200b increases the signal transmission intensity of the second master beacon 200b step by step before the beacon management server 400 transmits a connection request message to the slave beacon 300, Searching for a slave beacon (300).

3, a first master beacon 200a connected to a slave beacon 300 periodically transmits a slave beacon 300 to the first master beacon 200a, A signal to be transmitted is sensed (S2001).

The first master beacon 200a senses a signal periodically transmitted by the slave beacon 300 and measures a rate at which the periodically transmitted signal is sensed at a predetermined signal intensity or more, (S2003), and measures whether the signal recognition rate is equal to or greater than a preset threshold (S2005).

If the signal recognition rate is less than a predetermined threshold value, the first master beacon 200a increases the signal transmission power for maintaining connection with the slave beacon 300 (S2007) and connects to the slave beacon 300 (S2009) to increase the signal transmission power intensity for maintaining.

However, steps S2007 and S2009 are not necessarily performed sequentially or simultaneously. If the signal recognition rate can be increased to a predetermined threshold value or more only by increasing the transmission power of the first master beacon 200a, step S2009 may be omitted The step S2007 can be omitted if the signal recognition rate can be increased to a predetermined threshold or more only by increasing the transmission power of the slave beacon 300. [

That is, in the second embodiment, the first master beacon 200a can increase the transmission power intensity of at least one of the first master beacon 200a and the slave beacon 300, Whether to increase the sending power, increase the sending power of the slave beacon 300, or increase the sending power of both the slave beacon 300 and the first master beacon 200a depends on the state of the wireless network connection, It can be selected as a more efficient method considering the battery life and battery residual amount.

As a result of re-measuring the signal recognition rate after increasing the transmission power of the slave beacon 300 and the first master beacon 200a as in the second embodiment, the re-measured signal recognition rate is still set to a predetermined threshold value The wireless network can be reconfigured through the first embodiment or the third embodiment.

That is, if the signal recognition rate is still less than the predetermined threshold value after the completion of the step S2009 of the second embodiment, it can be implemented from the step S1007 of the first embodiment or the step S3007 of the third embodiment which will be described later.

It is to be noted that the preset threshold value and how much the transmission power of the first master beacon 200a and the slave beacon 300 are to be increased will be set by the user or the administrator. May be set considering the factors of < RTI ID = 0.0 >

Referring to FIG. 4, a third embodiment of a wireless network setting method according to the present invention will be described. A first master beacon 200a connected to a slave beacon 300 periodically transmits a slave beacon 300 senses a signal to be transmitted (S3001).

The first master beacon 200a senses a signal periodically transmitted by the slave beacon 300 and measures a rate at which the periodically transmitted signal is sensed at a predetermined signal intensity or more, (S3003), and measures whether the signal recognition rate is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value (S3005).

If the signal recognition rate exceeds a preset threshold value, the first master beacon 200a and the slave beacon 300 will maintain a connection state.

However, if the signal recognition rate is below a predetermined threshold value, the first master beacon 200a transmits a connection release message to the slave beacon 300 (S3007).

The slave beacon 300 receiving the connection cancellation message can search for another master beacon, i.e., the second master beacon 200b, to be connected to the master beacon 200a instead of the first master beacon 200a (S3009).

At this time, the slave beacon 300 can search for the second master beacon 200b while changing the signal transmitting power intensity, and can search for the second master beacon 200b while increasing the sending power step by step.

Also, the first master beacon 200a in the master beacon 200 to be searched by the slave beacon 300 should be excluded.

This is obviously an object of the present invention because it is a method of establishing a wireless network when the connection between the first master beacon 200a and the slave beacon 300 is not efficient or inappropriate.

The slave beacon 300 searching for the second master beacon 200b which is an appropriate master beacon to be connected to the slave beacon 300 instead of the first master beacon 200a while changing the sending power intensity of the slave beacon 300, And transmits a connection request message to the master beacon 200b (S3011).

The second master beacon 200b receiving the connection request message can send a response message to the slave beacon 300 and connect to the slave beacon 300. [

Then, the slave beacon 300 connected to the second master beacon 200b is disconnected to the first master beacon 200a and transmits an approval message to disconnect the connection (S3015).

Here, steps S3013 and S3015 are not necessarily executed serially, but may be executed simultaneously, or step S3015 may be executed before step S3013.

The system structure for setting the wireless network according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operation method of the master beacon 200 according to the present invention will be described.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the master beacon 200. FIGS. 6 to 7 are flowcharts for explaining a method of operating the master beacon 200 according to the first and third embodiments, 8 is a flowchart for explaining a method of operating the master beacon 200 according to the second embodiment described above.

Referring to FIG. 5, the master beacon 200 according to the present invention may include a storage module 210, a communication module 230, and a control module 250.

The storage module 210 is a device for storing data, and includes a main storage device and an auxiliary storage device, and stores an application program required for functional operation of the master beacon 200. [ The storage module 210 may include a program area and a data area. Here, if each function is activated in response to a request from the user, the master beacon 200 executes the corresponding application programs under the control of the control module 250 to provide each function.

The communication module 230 transmits and receives data to and from the beacon management server 400 through the communication network 100 and transmits and receives signals and various data periodically or aperiodically for maintaining a wireless connection with the slave beacon 300. [ will be.

The communication module 230 includes RF transmitting means for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal, RF receiving means for low-noise amplifying the received signal and down-converting the frequency of the received signal, Data processing means, and the like. The communication module 230 may include at least one of a wireless communication module (not shown) and a wired communication module (not shown).

When the master beacon 200 uses wireless communication, the wireless communication module uses any one of the wireless network communication module, the wireless LAN communication module, and the wireless fan communication module. And transmit / receive data to / from the beacon management server 400.

Here, the communication module 230 includes a first communication module 231 and a second communication module 233.

The first communication module 231 transmits and receives signals and various data for maintaining a wireless connection with the slave beacon 300. Here, the first communication module 371 can perform PAN (Personal Area Network) type communication including Bluetooth as described above.

The second communication module 233 communicates with the beacon management server 400 through the communication network 100. [ The second communication module 233 may be a wireless communication module such as a WLAN (Wireless LAN), a Wi-Fi, a Wibro, a WiMAX, or a High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) (Fiber to the curb), fiber to the home (FTTH), fiber to the home (FTTH), and the like. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. ) May be used.

The control module 250 may be a process device that drives each configuration.

The control module 250 controls the overall operation of the master beacon 200. The overall operation of the master beacon 200 controlled by the control module 250 will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 6 illustrates an operation procedure when the master beacon 200 operates as a first master beacon 200a in the first and third embodiments described above.

First, when a signal for maintaining a wireless connection is periodically sensed from the slave beacon 300 through the first communication module 231 (S101), a signal recognition rate, which is a rate at which the signal is detected at a predetermined signal intensity or more for a predetermined time, (S103).

If it is determined that the signal recognition rate is equal to or less than a preset threshold value (S105), the connection with the slave beacon 300 is maintained if the signal recognition rate is equal to or greater than a preset threshold value. A connection cancellation request message for disconnecting the slave beacon 300 from the beacon management server 400 or the slave beacon 300 is transmitted (S107).

Thereafter, when a connection cancellation approval message is received from the beacon management server 400 or the slave beacon 300 (S109), the connection with the slave beacon 300 can be canceled (S111).

Referring to FIG. 7, in a case where the master beacon 200 serves as a second master beacon 200b to be newly connected in the first and third embodiments, the second master beacon 200b is The connection request message may be received from the beacon management server 400 or the slave beacon 300 (S201).

The second master beacon 200b receiving the request message can search for the slave beacon 300 that is the connection request target while controlling the first communication module 231 so that the signal transmission intensity is gradually increased at step S203.

If it is found that the slave beacon 300 is connected to the slave beacon 300 in step S205, the connection beacon is transmitted to the slave beacon 300 in step S207.

If the second master beacon 200b receives a connection request message from the beacon management server 400 in step S201, the connection message to be transmitted to the slave beacon 300 in step S205 will be a connection request message, When the connection acknowledgment message is received from the slave beacon 300, the second master beacon 200b and the slave beacon 300 may be connected.

If the connection request message received in step S201 is a connection request message received from the slave beacon 300, the connection message transmitted in step S205 may be a connection approval message, and the connection acknowledgment message may be transmitted to the slave beacon 300 And the slave beacon 300 and the second master beacon 200b may be connected to each other.

FIG. 8 illustrates the operation of the master beacon 200 in the second embodiment.

When a signal for maintaining the wireless connection is periodically detected from the slave beacon 300 through the first communication module 231 (S301), a signal perception rate which is a rate at which the signal is detected at a predetermined signal intensity or more is measured (S303).

If it is determined that the signal recognition rate is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, the connection state is maintained. If the signal recognition rate is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value, (S307 to S309) so that the signal transmission power of at least one of the slave beacon 200a and the slave beacon 300 is increased.

At this time, both steps S307 to S309 can be executed, and only one of steps S307 to S309 can be executed.

If the slave beacon 300 is under the management of the first master beacon 200a when the transmission power increase request message of the slave beacon 300 is transmitted to the slave beacon 300 in step S309, Which will increase the signal transmission power.

If the measured signal recognition rate is not more than a predetermined threshold value, a connection cancellation request is transmitted to the beacon management server 400 or the slave beacon 300 .

That is, even if the transmitted power intensity is increased, if the signal recognition rate is still below the predetermined threshold value, the process of S107 and subsequent steps of FIG. 6 can be performed.

As described above, a series of operations of the smart beacon 200 described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8 can be controlled by the control module 250 of the smart beacon 200.

The configuration and operation method of the master beacon 200 according to the present invention have been described above.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operation method of the slave beacon 300 according to the present invention will be described.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the slave beacon 300, FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining a method of operating the slave beacon 300 according to the first embodiment described above, and FIG. A method for operating a slave beacon 300 according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

Referring to FIG. 9, the slave beacon 200 according to the present invention may include a storage module 310, a communication module 330, and a control module 350.

The storage module 310 is a device for storing data, and includes a main storage device and an auxiliary storage device, and stores an application program required for the functional operation of the slave beacon 300. The storage module 310 may include a program area and a data area. Here, when the slave beacon 300 activates each function corresponding to the request of the user, the slave beacon 300 executes the corresponding application programs under the control of the control module 350 to provide each function.

The communication module 330 is for periodically or non-periodically transmitting / receiving signals and various data for maintaining a wireless connection with the master beacon 200.

Also, the communication module 330 can perform PAN (Personal Area Network) communication including Bluetooth as described above.

The control module 350 may be a process device that drives each configuration.

The control module 350 controls the overall operation of the slave beacon 300. The overall operation of the slave beacon 300 controlled by the control module 350 will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 10 illustrates an operation process of the slave beacon 300 according to the first embodiment.

The slave beacon 300 receives a connection release message from the first master beacon 200a through the communication module 330 in step S401 and receives a connection request message from the second master beacon 200b in step S403, The first master beacon 200a is disconnected in step S405 and the second master beacon 200b is connected in step S407.

FIG. 11 illustrates an operation process of the slave beacon 300 according to the third embodiment.

When the slave beacon 300 receives a connection release message from the first master beacon 200a through the communication module 330 in step S501, the first master beacon 200a ) May be searched for master beacons to be connected (S503). At this time, the slave beacon 300 can search for the master beacon to be connected while gradually increasing the transmission power intensity.

If the second master beacon 200b is found to be connected instead of the first master beacon 200a, the second master beacon 200b transmits a connection request message to the second master beacon 200b (S505) If it is approved, the second master beacon 200b can be connected (S507).

Although not shown in the drawing, in the second embodiment, when receiving the transmission power increase request message from the first master beacon 200a, the slave beacon 300 increases the transmission power intensity according to the request message will be.

As described above, a series of operation processes of the slave beacon 300 described in FIGS. 10 to 11 can be controlled by the control module 350 of the slave beacon 300. FIG.

The configuration and operation method of the slave beacon 300 according to the present invention have been described above.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operation method of the beacon management server 400 according to the present invention will be described.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of the beacon management server 400, and FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining an operation method of the beacon management server 400 according to the first embodiment described above.

Referring to FIG. 12, the beacon management server 400 according to the present invention may include a storage module 410, a communication module 430, and a control module 450.

The storage module 410 is a device for storing data, and includes a main storage device and an auxiliary storage device, and stores an application program required for functional operation of the beacon management server 400. [ The storage module 410 may include a program area and a data area. Here, when the beacon management server 400 activates each function according to the request of the user, the beacon management server 400 executes the corresponding application programs under the control of the control module 450 to provide each function.

In particular, the storage module 410 of the beacon management server 400 according to the present invention can store location information, wireless network connection information, and the like where each master beacon 200 and the slave beacon 300 are installed.

The wireless network connection information includes information on the slave beacon 300 managed by each master beacon 200 and connection relationship information and signal transmission power intensity information of each master beacon 200 and each slave beacon 300 . ≪ / RTI >

The communication module 430 is for transmitting / receiving data to / from the master beacon 200 through the communication network 100.

The communication module 430 includes RF transmitting means for up-converting and amplifying the frequency of a transmitted signal, RF receiving means for low-noise amplifying the received signal and down-converting the frequency of the received signal, Data processing means, and the like. The communication module 430 may include at least one of a wireless communication module (not shown) and a wired communication module (not shown).

When the beacon management server 400 uses wireless communication, the wireless communication module transmits either one of a wireless network communication module, a wireless LAN communication module, and a wireless fan communication module Data can be transmitted / received to / from the master beacon 200 by using the master beacon.

Here, the communication module 430 uses a wireless communication method such as WLAN (Wireless LAN), Wi-Fi, Wibro, WiMAX, HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to use Ethernet, xDSL (ADSL, VDSL), HFC (Hybrid Fiber Coaxial Cable), FTTC (Fiber To The Curb), FTTH May be used.

The control module 450 may be a process device that drives each configuration.

The control module 450 controls the overall operation of the beacon management server 400. The overall operation of the beacon management server 400 controlled by the control module 450 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 13 illustrates an operation process of the beacon management server 400 in the first embodiment described above.

When the beacon management server 400 receives a connection cancellation request message from the first master beacon 200a to disconnect from the slave beacon 300 in step S601, , An alternative master beacon to manage the slave beacons 300 instead of the first master beacons 200a can be searched.

That is, it searches the alternative route of the wireless network.

If the second master beacon 200b is found to be a substitute master beacon 200b to be substituted for the first master beacon 200a, the second master beacon 200b transmits a disconnection approval message to the first master beacon (S605) To the slave beacon 300 (S607).

As described above, a series of operation processes of the beacon management server 400 described in FIG. 13 can be controlled by the control module 450 of the beacon management server 400. FIG.

The configuration and operation method of the beacon management server 400 according to the present invention have been described above.

Hereinafter, an operating environment for providing a wireless network setting method in a system for setting a wireless network according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

14 is a diagram illustrating an operating environment of an apparatus for providing a method of measuring a BS performance in a wireless network configuration system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 14 and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment in which the invention may be implemented. Although not required, the invention may be described in connection with computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer system.

Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The computer executable instructions, associated data structures, and program modules illustrate examples of program code means for carrying out the acts of the invention disclosed herein.

14, an exemplary computing system embodying the present invention includes a processing unit 11, a system memory 12, and various system components including the system memory 12 connected to the processing unit 11 And a system bus 10 for communicating with the system.

The processing unit 11 may execute computer-executable instructions designed to implement the features of the present invention.

The system bus 10 may be any of several types of bus structures including a local bus, a peripheral bus, and a memory bus or memory controller using any of a variety of bus architectures. The system memory 12 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12a and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 12b.

A basic input / output system (BIOS) 13a, containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between components within a computing system, such as during start-up, may generally be stored in ROM 12a.

The computing system may include storage means, for example, a hard disk drive 15 that reads information from, or writes information to, the hard disk, reads information from, or writes information to, And an optical disk drive 17 that reads information from, or writes information to, an optical disk such as, for example, a CD-ROM or other optical media .

The hard disk drive 15, the magnetic disk drive 16 and the optical disk drive 17 are connected by a hard disk drive interface 18, a magnetic disk drive-interface 19 and an optical drive interface 20, respectively, And is connected to the bus 10.

Further, the computing system may further include an external memory 21 as a storage means. The external memory 21 may be connected to the system bus 10 through an input /

The above-described drives and their associated computer-readable media readable and writable by the drives provide non-volatile storage of computer-executable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data.

The exemplary environment described herein illustrates a hard disk 15, magnetic disk 16 and optical disk 17, but may also include magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, DVDs, Bernoulli cartridges, RAMs Other types of computer readable media for storing data, including ROM, ROM, etc., may be used.

Includes one or more program modules including an operating system 13b, one or more application programs 13c, other program modules 13d, and program data 13c that are loaded and executed by the processing unit 11 The program code means may be stored in the hard disk 15, the magnetic disk 16, the optical disk 17, the ROM 12a or the RAM 12b.

In addition, the computing system may receive commands and information from a user through other input devices 22 such as a keyboard, a pointing device, a microphone, a joystick, a game pad, a scanner,

These input devices 22 may be connected to the processing unit 11 via an input / output interface 24 connected to the system bus 10. The input / output interface 24 may be, for example, a serial interface such as a serial port interface, a PS / 2 interface, a parallel port interface, a USB interface, an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 interface (i.e., FireWire interface) Any of a variety of different interfaces can be represented logically, or even combinations of different interfaces can be represented logically.

In addition, the computing system to which the present invention is applied may further include a display device 26 such as a monitor or LCD or an audio device 27 such as a speaker or microphone, which may be connected via a video / audio interface 25 And is connected to the system bus 10. For example, other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers and printers, may also be connected to the computer system.

The video / audio interface unit 25 may include a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI), a graphics device interface (GDI), or the like.

Further, the computing system embodying the invention is connectable to a network such as, for example, an office-wide or enterprise-wide computer network, a home network, an intranet, and / or the Internet.

The computer system may exchange data with external sources such as, for example, a remote computer system, a remote application, and / or a remote database.

To this end, a computing system to which the present invention is applied includes a network interface 28 for receiving data from an external source and / or for transmitting data to an external source.

In the present invention, such a computing system is capable of transmitting and receiving information with a device located remotely via the network interface 28.

For example, if the computing system refers to the beacon management server 400, it may transmit and receive information to and from the master beacon 200 via the network interface 28.

On the other hand, if the computing system refers to the master beacon 200, it can transmit and receive information to / from the beacon management server 400 or the slave beacon 300 via the network interface 28.

The network interface 28 may be represented by a logical combination of one or more software and / or hardware modules, such as, for example, a network interface card and a corresponding Network Driver Interface Specification ("NDIS") stack.

Likewise, the computer system receives data from an external source via the input / output interface 24 or transmits data to an external source.

Output interface 24 may be coupled to a modem 23 (e.g., a standard modem, a cable modem, or a digital subscriber line (" DSL ") modem) Lt; / RTI > and / or transmit data to an external source.

14 illustrates an operating environment suitable for the present invention, the principles of the present invention may be employed in any system that can implement the principles of the present invention, with appropriate modifications if necessary.

The environment shown in Fig. 14 is merely illustrative and does not represent a small portion of a very diverse environment in which the principles of the present invention may be implemented.

In addition, various information generated upon base station performance metrology of the present invention may be stored and accessed in any computer readable medium associated with the computing system.

 For example, a portion of these program modules and a portion of the associated program data may be stored in the system memory 12, such as in the operating system 13b, the application program 13c, the program module 13d, and / (13e).

Further, when a mass storage device such as a hard disk is connected to the computing system, such program modules and related program data may be stored in the mass storage device.

In a networked environment, program modules associated with the present invention, or portions thereof, may be stored in a remote computer system connected via a modem 23 or network interface 25 of the input / output interface 24. The execution of such a module can be performed in a distributed environment as described above.

As described above, the present specification contains details of a number of specific implementations, but they should not be construed as being limitations on the scope of any invention or claimability, but rather on the particular embodiment of a particular invention But should be understood as an explanation of the features.

Certain features described herein in the context of separate embodiments may be implemented in combination in a single embodiment.

Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments, either individually or in any suitable subcombination.

 Further, although the features may operate in a particular combination and may be initially described as so claimed, one or more features from the claimed combination may in some cases be excluded from the combination, Or a variant of a subcombination.

Likewise, although the operations are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, it should be understood that such operations must be performed in that particular order or sequential order shown to achieve the desired result, or that all illustrated operations should be performed.

In certain cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.

Also, the separation of the various system components of the above-described embodiments should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and the described program components and systems will generally be integrated together into a single software product or packaged into multiple software products It should be understood.

Certain embodiments of the subject matter described herein have been described.

Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims.

For example, the operations recited in the claims may be performed in a different order and still achieve desirable results.

By way of example, the process illustrated in the accompanying drawings does not necessarily require that particular illustrated or sequential order to obtain the desired results. In certain implementations, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous.

The description sets forth the best modes of the present invention and provides examples for the purpose of illustrating the invention and enabling a person skilled in the art to make and use the invention.

The written description is not intended to limit the invention to the specific terminology presented.

Thus, while the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the above examples, those skilled in the art will recognize that modifications, changes, and modifications can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited by the described embodiments but should be defined by the claims.

The present invention relates to a wireless network setting method and apparatus therefor, and more particularly, to a wireless network setting method and apparatus therefor, and more particularly, to a wireless network setting method and apparatus therefor. More specifically, when a signal recognition rate of a slave beacon managed by a master beacon is low, And more particularly to a method and apparatus for efficiently reconfiguring a wireless network by searching for another master beacon to be performed.

According to the present invention, the master beacon periodically measures the signal perception rate of the slave beacons managed by the master beacon, thereby terminating the connection with the slave beacon having the signal perception rate less than a preset threshold value and appropriately managing the revoked slave beacon It is possible to efficiently manage the wireless mesh network by searching for another master beacon and connecting the searched other master beacon to the revoked slave beacon.

In addition, if the signal recognition rate of the slave beacon is less than or equal to the predetermined threshold value, if the signal recognition rate of the master beacon and the slave beacon is increased before the connection is released and the signal recognition rate becomes higher than a predetermined threshold value, A more efficient slave beacon management scheme can be derived by increasing the power timing and otherwise searching for other master beacons to manage slave beacons.

Therefore, the present invention can contribute to the development of the beacon service industry and the mobile communication industry through the above-described wireless network setting method, and it is possible to be industrially applicable because it is possible to carry out clearly on the market or business as well as realistic.

100: communication network 200: master beacon 300: slave beacon
400: Beacon management server

Claims (16)

A first communication module for wirelessly connecting with slave beacons to transmit and receive data;
A second communication module for transmitting and receiving data to and from the beacon management server; And
The signal recognition rate being a rate at which the signal of the slave beacon periodically transmitted over a predetermined period of time is detected to be equal to or greater than a predetermined signal intensity, and, when the awareness rate is equal to or less than a preset threshold value, A control module for controlling the slave beacon to be connected to another master beacon after the slave beacon is disconnected;
And a master beacon. The apparatus of claim 1,
The master beacon signal and the master beacon signal before the connection cancellation request, the signal recognition rate is measured, and if the measured signal recognition rate is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold value And if so, sends a connection cancellation request. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control module
Wherein the beacon management server transmits a connection cancellation request to the slave beacon, and upon receiving an approval message for the request, disconnects the connection with the slave beacon. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the control module
Upon receipt of a connection request message with another slave beacon from the beacon management server, transmits a connection request message to the other slave beacon to connect to the other slave beacon. 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the control module
Wherein the master beacon searches the other slave beacon while controlling the first communication module such that the signal transmission strength is increased stepwise before sending a connection request message to another slave beacon. A communication module for transmitting and receiving data with at least one master beacon; And
When receiving a connection release message from a master beacon wirelessly connected through the communication module, searches for another master beacon excluding the master beacon while changing the transmission power of the communication module, A control module for controlling the transmitting module to transmit;
And a slave beacon. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the control module
And slave beacons are searched while gradually increasing the transmission power. Detecting a signal periodically transmitted by a slave beacon for a predetermined period of time;
Measuring a signal perception rate which is a rate at which the signal is sensed at a predetermined signal strength or more for a predetermined time;
Transmitting a connection cancellation request to the beacon management server or the slave beacon when the measured awareness is less than or equal to a preset threshold value; And
Controlling the slave beacon to be connected to another master beacon after disconnection
The wireless network setting method comprising: 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: prior to transmitting the connection release request
Increasing a transmission power intensity of at least one of a signal of the slave beacon and a signal of the master beacon; And
Re-measuring the signal perception;
Further comprising the step of: 9. The method of claim 8,
Releasing the connection with the slave beacon upon receiving an acknowledgment message for the connection cancellation request;
Further comprising the step of: Receiving a connection request message with a slave beacon from a beacon management server;
Transmitting a connection request message to the slave beacon; And
Connecting to the slave beacon;
The wireless network setting method comprising: 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: prior to the request message transmission step,
Incrementing the signal transmission intensity step by step, thereby searching for the slave beacon;
Further comprising the step of: Receiving a connection release message from a master beacon wirelessly connected to a slave beacon;
Searching for a master beacon other than the master beacon while changing a signal transmission intensity of the slave beacon; And
Transmitting a connection request message to the searched other master beacon;
The wireless network setting method comprising: 14. The method of claim 13,
Wherein the step of searching for the wireless network is performed while gradually increasing the signal transmission intensity. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for executing the method according to any one of claims 8 to 14 is recorded. 15. A computer program embodied on a computer readable recording medium which is embodied to execute the method recited in any one of claims 8 to 14.

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