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EP-4738896-A1 - AP-BASED COMMUNICATION METHOD AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE

EP4738896A1EP 4738896 A1EP4738896 A1EP 4738896A1EP-4738896-A1

Abstract

A method for operating a portable communication device comprises establishing a first Wi-Fi connection, via a first communication module, to a first access point (AP) selected from an AP list of one or more APs connectable to the portable communication device; receiving, via a second communication module, a signal transmitted from an external electronic device that is connected to a second AP via a second Wi-Fi connection; identifying, based on the signal and information associated with an account corresponding to a user of the portable communication device, first information related to the second AP; selecting a target AP from among the second AP and the one or more APs in the AP list; transmitting second information related to the target AP to the external electronic device such that the external electronic device connects to the target AP based on the second information; and performing a specified function in collaboration with the external electronic device.

Inventors

  • Choi, Jongmu
  • LEE, Gyujin
  • CHOI, BOKUN
  • KANG, MINGU
  • KIM, SUHYUN
  • AN, Junhwan

Assignees

  • Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20220114

Claims (15)

  1. A portable communication device (101) comprising: a first communication module (301) configured to perform Wi-Fi communication; a second communication module (303) configured to perform BT/BLE communication; a processor (120) comprising processing circuitry; and memory (130) configured to store instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor (120), cause the portable communication device (101) to: establish (501) a first Wi-Fi connection, via the first communication module (301), to a first access point, AP, selected from an AP list of one or more APs connectable to the portable communication device (101), receive (511), via the second communication module (303), a signal transmitted from an external electronic device (102) that is connected to a second AP via a second Wi-Fi connection, identify (513), based on the signal and information associated with an account corresponding to a user of the portable communication device (101), first information related to the second AP, select (517) a target AP from among the second AP and the one or more APs in the AP list, transmit (519) second information related to the target AP to the external electronic device (102) such that the external electronic device (102) connects to the target AP based on the second information, and perform (525) a specified function in collaboration with the external electronic device (102).
  2. The portable communication device (101) of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor (120), cause the portable communication device (101) to: perform (513) the identifying of the first information based on a determination that the account matches another account associated with the external electronic device (102).
  3. The portable communication device (101) of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor (120), cause the portable communication device (101) to: perform (517) the selecting of the target AP based on a signal quality corresponding to the target AP.
  4. The portable communication device (101) of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor (120), cause the portable communication device (101) to: as part of the identifying of the first information, identify (515) another AP list of one or more APs including the second AP, and perform (517) the selecting of the target AP from another AP list.
  5. The portable communication device (101) of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor (120), cause the portable communication device (101) to: establish a second Wi-Fi connection, via the selected target AP, to the external electronic device (102).
  6. The portable communication device (101) of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor (120), cause the portable communication device (101) to: transmit (505) a signal, via the second communication module (303), to an outside based on a configured period, and receive (505) a response signal corresponding to the signal from the external electronic device (102).
  7. The portable communication device (101) of claim 6, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor (120), cause the portable communication device (101) to: establish a first BT/BLE connection, via the second communication module (303), to the external electronic device (102) based on the signal, and receive a packet comprising communication information related to the external electronic device (102) via the first BT/BLE connection.
  8. The portable communication device (101) of claim 1, wherein the AP list comprises at least one of a service set identifier, SSID, for identifying at least one AP, a basic service set identifier, BSSID, a Wi-Fi channel number through which the at least one AP communicates, a Wi-Fi standard technology supportable by the at least one AP, physical location information about the at least one AP, information about at least one electronic device connected to the at least one AP, information indicating whether the at least one AP is connectable, and/or information indicating whether the at least one AP is connected to an Internet.
  9. The portable communication device (101) of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor (120), cause the portable communication device (101) to: determine the first AP based on a signal quality of at least one first AP included in the AP list, a signal quality of at least one second AP related to the second AP, a preset priority corresponding to the at least one first AP, a user preference, a communication record of the at least one first AP, and/or a charge for the at least one first AP.
  10. The portable communication device (101) of claim 9, wherein the signal quality of the at least one first AP is identified based on at least one piece of information among a received signal strength indicator, RSSI, channel utilization, CU, a modulation coding scheme, MCS, a signal-to-noise ratio, SNR, a channel busy ratio, CBR, and/or a packet error rate, PER, related to the at least one first AP.
  11. The portable communication device (101) of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor (120), cause the portable communication device (101) to: transmit a request signal to request a switch to the target AP to the external electronic device (102), and perform the Wi-Fi communication with the external electronic device (102) via the target AP.
  12. The portable communication device (101) of claim 11, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor (120), cause the portable communication device (101) to: determine, in response to a failure to switch to the target AP, a different target AP based on the AP list, and transmit a request signal to request a switch to the different target AP to the external electronic device (102).
  13. A portable communication device (102) comprising: a first communication module (351) configured to perform Wi-Fi communication; a second communication module (353) configured to perform BT/BLE communication; a processor (320) comprising processing circuitry; and memory (330) configured to store instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor (320), cause the portable communication device (102) to: establish (503) a Wi-Fi connection, via the first communication module (351), to a first access point, AP, based on a first AP list of one or more APs connectable to the portable communication device (102); generate (509) first information related to the first AP based on information associated with an account corresponding to a user of the portable communication device (102); in response to a request transmitted from an external electronic device (101) via a BT/BLE connection, transmit (511) a first signal including the first information to the external electronic device (101) via the BT/BLE connection provided by the second communication module (353); in response to the first signal, receive (519) a second signal including second information related to a target AP from the external electronic device (101), the target AP selected by the external electronic device (101) from the first AP list or a second AP list of one or more APs connectable to the external electronic device (101); and perform (525) a specified function in collaboration with the external electronic device (101).
  14. A method for operating a portable communication device (101), comprising: establishing (501) a first Wi-Fi connection, via a first communication module (301), to a first access point, AP, selected from an AP list of one or more APs connectable to the portable communication device (101); receiving (511), via a second communication module (303), a signal transmitted from an external electronic device (102) that is connected to a second AP via a second Wi-Fi connection; identifying (513), based on the signal and information associated with an account corresponding to a user of the portable communication device (101), first information related to the second AP; selecting (517) a target AP from among the second AP and the one or more APs in the AP list; transmitting (519) second information related to the target AP to the external electronic device (102) such that the external electronic device (102) connects to the target AP based on the second information; and performing (525) a specified function in collaboration with the external electronic device (102).
  15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: performing the identifying of the first information based on a determination that the account matches another account associated with the external electronic device (102).

Description

Technical Field The disclosure relates to a method and an electronic device for communicating based on an access point Background Art With the advancement of digital technology, various types of electronic devices, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), an electronic organizer, a smartphone, a tablet personal computer (PC), and a wearable device, are widely used. These electronic devices may perform wireless communication with each other and may share data (e.g., context information) through wireless communication. When using a plurality of electronic devices among which context information is shared, a user may independently utilize the shared context information in each electronic device. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem At least one electronic device may share context information with other electronic devices, and each electronic device may independently utilize the context information. Generally, in sharing context information, an electronic device may store the context information in a memory of a central server, based on a specific account, and a different electronic device may download the context information corresponding to the specific account from the central server. For example, when the different electronic device needs context information about the electronic device, the different electronic device may access the central server and may download the context information about the electronic device from the central server. When the context information is shared using the central server, latency may occur when obtaining the context information, and use of the central server may incur costs. Embodiments of the disclosure provide a method for exchanging data between electronic devices without using an external server in sharing data (e.g., context information) among a plurality of electronic devices, and an electronic device for implementing the same. Solution to Problem The present invention is directed to subject matter as defined in the claims. According to various example embodiments, an electronic device may include: a communication module comprising communication circuitry configured to support a first communication method and a second communication method, a memory, and a processor operatively connected to the communication module and the memory. The processor may be configured to: control the electronic device to connect to a first AP included in a first AP list based on the first communication method, receive a signal based on the second communication method transmitted from an external electronic device, obtain account information about the external electronic device and a second AP list including information about a second AP connected with the external electronic device from the external electronic device based on the second communication method upon receiving the signal, determine one AP, based on the first AP list and the second AP list based on account information about the electronic device and the account information about the external electronic device at least partly matching, and control the electronic device to perform wireless communication with the external electronic device based on the first communication method through the determined one AP. According to various example embodiments, an external electronic device may include: a communication module comprising communication circuitry configured to support a first communication method and a second communication method, a memory, and a processor operatively connected to the communication module and the memory. The processor may be configured to: control the external electronic device to connect to a first AP included in a first AP list based on the first communication method, receive a request signal transmitted from an electronic device based on the second communication method, control the communication module to transmit account information about the external electronic device and a first AP list including information about the connected first AP to the electronic device based on the second communication method upon receiving the request signal, switch the connected first AP to a second AP in response to a request signal for requesting a switch to the second AP, and control the external electronic device to perform wireless communication with the electronic device based on the first communication method through the second AP. A method according to various example embodiments may include: connecting to a first AP included in a first AP list based on a first communication method, receiving a signal based on a second communication method transmitted from an external electronic device connected to a second AP included in a second AP list, obtaining account information about the external electronic device and the second AP list including information about the second AP connected with the external electronic device from the external electronic device based on the second communication method upon receiving the signal,