Fast roaming system
First Claim
1. A fast roaming system, wherein a mobile terminal, while communicating with an access point, serving as a parent station, over a wireless LAN that conforms to the IEEE 802.11 specifications, can be quickly switched from the parent station to an adjacent access point having an overlapping communication range;
- wherein the access point comprises a wireless LAN interface for communicating with the mobile terminal over the wireless LAN, a roaming unit for performing a roaming operation based on the IEEE 802.1113 specifications, a beacon transmitter for transmitting a beacon signal to provide synchronization with the mobile terminal, and a data transmitter for transmitting, to the mobile terminal, access point data required for the roaming operation; and
wherein the mobile terminal comprises a wireless LAN interface for communicating with an access point over the wireless LAN, an access point search unit for searching for peripheral connectable access points and for obtaining access point data, a roaming execution unit for transferring the connection of the mobile terminal from a currently connected access point to another, designated access point, an access point data table in which the access point data detected and obtained by the access point search unit are recorded, and a function controller for, when a condition for communicating with the current access point matches a predetermined roaming operation start condition, employing a predetermined order sequence to select one of the access points entered in the access point data table, and for driving the roaming unit to perform the roaming operation for the access point that is selected.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A fast roaming system for changing, in a short period of time, the connection to a roaming destination AP (access point) providing a better communication environment, and for improving a roaming completion rate. In response to a search process performed by a mobile terminal, individual APs transmits AP data required for roaming directly to the mobile terminal. The mobile terminal performs the passive scanning search or the active scanning search for the peripheral APs at short time intervals, and obtains and stores the latest AP data in an AP data table. As a result, only the latest data for the connectable peripheral AP can be stored as a roaming destination in the AP data table. Furthermore, since the order condition is set by the mobile terminal to select the roaming destination AP, there is a high probability that the roaming is completed when the peripheral AP is first selected. Therefore, only a short period of time is required until the roaming is completed.
95 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A fast roaming system,
wherein a mobile terminal, while communicating with an access point, serving as a parent station, over a wireless LAN that conforms to the IEEE 802.11 specifications, can be quickly switched from the parent station to an adjacent access point having an overlapping communication range; -
wherein the access point comprises a wireless LAN interface for communicating with the mobile terminal over the wireless LAN, a roaming unit for performing a roaming operation based on the IEEE 802.1113 specifications, a beacon transmitter for transmitting a beacon signal to provide synchronization with the mobile terminal, and a data transmitter for transmitting, to the mobile terminal, access point data required for the roaming operation; and
wherein the mobile terminal comprises a wireless LAN interface for communicating with an access point over the wireless LAN, an access point search unit for searching for peripheral connectable access points and for obtaining access point data, a roaming execution unit for transferring the connection of the mobile terminal from a currently connected access point to another, designated access point, an access point data table in which the access point data detected and obtained by the access point search unit are recorded, and a function controller for, when a condition for communicating with the current access point matches a predetermined roaming operation start condition, employing a predetermined order sequence to select one of the access points entered in the access point data table, and for driving the roaming unit to perform the roaming operation for the access point that is selected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification