System and method of dynamically switching between 802.11b client and access point in MS-Windows environment
First Claim
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1. A method of operating an access router for a plurality of wireless clients (“
- WC”
) to access the Internet, comprising;
a) providing a host computer;
b) operating said host computer using a Windows operating system, said operating system being adapted to provide TCP/IP and IP sharing functionality to said host computer;
c) operatively connecting an 802.11(b) AP device to said host computer;
d) initializing said 802.11(b) AP device;
e) acknowledging setting of said host computer;
f) if AP mode is selected, downloading AP firmware from said 802.11(b) AP device to said host computer;
g) operating said 802.11(b) AP device as an access router for said plurality of WC with said IP sharing functionality.
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Abstract
System and method for a configurable application driver for an 802.11 (b) device such as PC card/PCI wireless AP, that can provide both the WC and AP functions in one module. The application driver is designed to perform as either WC or AP driver, according to current setting. The AP is a firmware-based AP, as is typically provided by chipmakers, so as to avoid performance degradation. The application driver also functions as a regular WC driver to put the device into the WC mode. It can then connect to other APs and act as a client network device.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method of operating an access router for a plurality of wireless clients (“
- WC”
) to access the Internet, comprising;
a) providing a host computer;
b) operating said host computer using a Windows operating system, said operating system being adapted to provide TCP/IP and IP sharing functionality to said host computer;
c) operatively connecting an 802.11(b) AP device to said host computer;
d) initializing said 802.11(b) AP device;
e) acknowledging setting of said host computer;
f) if AP mode is selected, downloading AP firmware from said 802.11(b) AP device to said host computer;
g) operating said 802.11(b) AP device as an access router for said plurality of WC with said IP sharing functionality. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
- WC”
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10. An access router (“
- AR”
) for connecting a plurality of wireless clients to a global computer information network, comprising;
a host computer;
a Windows operating system adapted to operate said host computer, and to operatively connect said host computer to said global computer information network;
a wireless LAN device operatively connected to said host computer, said wireless LAN device being adapted to enable said host computer in 802.11(b) standard communication;
a software driver adapted to operate said wireless LAN device and said host computer, said software driver being adapted to enable access point functionality of said wireless LAN device and to enable IP sharing functionality of said Windows operating system. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
- AR”
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18. A method of using a host computer to connect a plurality of 802.11 (b)-standards wireless clients to the Internet, comprising the steps of:
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a) operating said host computer using a Windows operating system;
b) configuring said Windows operating system to enable Internet access functionality and IP sharing functionality;
c) operating said host computer to access the Internet using said Windows operating system;
d) connecting an 802.11 (b) access point (“
AP”
) device to said host computere) initializing said 802.11 (b) AP device;
f) if AR mode is selected, downloading AP firmware from said AP device;
g) operating said host computer as an access point for said plurality of 802.11 (b) wireless clients using said 802.11 (b) AP device, using said IP sharing functionality of said Windows operating system;
h) formatting packets based on a predetermined AP packet format according to said 802.11 (b) standards. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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Specification