Methods, apparatuses, and systems for retrieving data from a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point

• US 10,135,730 B2
• Filed: 03/25/2014
• Issued: 11/20/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Intel IP Corporation (Intel Corporation)
• Inventors: Chou, Joey
• Primary Examiner(s): Mohebbi, Kouroush
• Application Number:
  US14/779,548
• Publication Number:
  US 20160044660A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,701 Days
• Field of Search: 370338
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/005 with correlation of navigation data from several sources, e.g. map or contour matching G01C21/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/12 wherein the cooperating elements are telecommunication base stations
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 17/318 Received signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/6418 Hybrid transport
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/74 Address processing for routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/18 Network planning tools
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0252 per individual bearer or channel dynamic wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0289 Congestion control load shedding arrangements in network planning H04W16/08; performing reselection for handling the traffic H04W36/22; wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/29 between an access point and the access point controlling device
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

Methods, apparatuses, and systems are described related to retrieving data from a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP). In embodiments, an element manager may include an integration reference point (IRP) agent to receive data from the WLAN AP in the first format. Mapping circuitry of the element manager may convert the data from the first format to a second format to be used by an IRP manager that manages a Long Term Evolution Advance (LTE-A) network. The IRP agent may send the data to the IRP manager in the second format. The data may include, for example, performance monitoring data such as a value of one or more counters and/or a status of one or more alarms maintained by the WLAN AP. Accordingly, one or more components of the LTE-A network may monitor the performance of the WLAN AP.

Claims

1. An element manager, comprising:

an integration reference point (IRP) agent to interface between a plurality of wireless local area network (WLAN) access points (AP) and a network manager without involvement of a user equipment (UE), wherein the network manager manages a Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) network, wherein the IRP agent is to receive data from a first WLAN AP of the plurality of WLAN APs, wherein the data includes a value of a counter maintained by the WLAN AP; and

mapping circuitry to convert the data from a first format generated by the WLAN AP to a second format to be used by the network manager that manages a Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) network;

wherein the IRP agent is to send the data to the network manager in the second format via a Type-2 interface; and

wherein the IRP agent is to periodically transmit a request for the data to the WLAN AP, and wherein a time period between successive requests is determined based on a size of the counter.

2. The element manager of claim 1, wherein the network manager is to communicate with one or more evolved Node Bs (eNBs) of the LTE-A network, via another element manager, to manage communications by the one or more eNBs with one or more UEs, wherein the network manager is to determine whether the one or more UEs should connect with the LTE-A network or the first WLAN AP based on the data sent by the IRP agent.

3. The element manager of claim 1, wherein the IRP agent is further to:

send requests to the plurality of WLAN APs including the first WLAN AP;

receive data from the plurality of WLAN APs in response to the requests;

receive a request from the network manager; and

send the data from the plurality of WLAN APs to the network manager in response to the request from the network manager.

4. The element manager of claim 1, wherein the value of the counter indicates an amount of data received or an amount of data transmitted by the WLAN AP via a WLAN interface.

5. The element manager of claim 1, wherein the value of the counter indicates a number of UEs associated with the WLAN AP.

6. The element manager of claim 1,

wherein the IRP agent is further to receive a first request from an IRP manager of the network manager to query a status of an alarm,

wherein the mapping circuitry is to convert the first request to a second request to be used by the WLAN AP, and

wherein the IRP agent is to send the second request to the WLAN AP to retrieve the status of the alarm.

7. The element manager of claim 6, wherein the second request is a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) GET message.

8. A method to be performed by an element manager that manages a plurality of network elements, the method comprising:

periodically sending a request for a value of a counter to a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP);

receiving a first message including the value of the counter from the WLAN AP responsive to the request;

sending a second message including the value of the counter to a network manager that manages a Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) network; and

determining a time period between sending successive periodic requests to the WLAN AP for the value of the counter based on a size of the counter and the received values of the counter.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first message includes a first format and the second message includes a second format that is different from the first format, and wherein the method further includes converting the first message to the second message.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the WLAN AP is a first WLAN AP, wherein the method further includes:

sending requests to a plurality of WLAN APs including the first WLAN AP;

receiving values of respective counters from the plurality of WLAN APs in response to the requests; and

sending the values of the respective counters to the network manager.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising receiving a request from the network manager for the value of the counter.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the value of the counter indicates an amount of data received or an amount of data transmitted by the WLAN AP via a WLAN interface.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the value of the counter indicates a number of user equipments (UEs) associated with the WLAN AP.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the first message is received from the WLAN AP via an access controller.

15. One or more non-transitory computer readable media having instructions, stored thereon, that when executed cause an element manager that manages a plurality of network elements to:

process a first data request from a network manager that manages a Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) network;

transmit a second data request to a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) directly or via a WLAN access controller, the second data request having a different format from the first data request;

process data from the WLAN AP received in response to the second data request, wherein the data includes a value of a counter maintained by the WLAN AP, and wherein the data is received directly from the WLAN AP or via the WLAN access controller;

transmit the data to the network manager via a Type-2 interface; and

periodically repeat the transmission of the second data request to the WLAN AP, wherein a time period between successive transmissions of the second data request is determined based on a size of the counter.

16. The one or more media of claim 15, wherein the second data request is transmitted responsive to receiving the first data request.

17. The one or more media of claim 15, wherein the value of the counter indicates an amount of data received or an amount of data transmitted by the WLAN AP via a WLAN interface.

18. The one or more media of claim 15, wherein the value of the counter indicates a number of user equipments (UEs) associated with the WLAN AP.

19. The one or more media of claim 15, wherein the data is received from the WLAN AP via an access controller.