Method and apparatus for antenna steering for WLAN
First Claim
1. A method for operating a directional antenna in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), comprising:
- causing a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer to provide metrics associated with respective beam angles of the directional antenna; and
based on the metrics, steering the directional antenna to a selected direction associated with an Access Point (AP).
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A Station Management Entity (SME) steers a directional antenna for a station to communicate with an Access Point (AP) in an 802.11 protocol system. The SME can steer the antenna before or after an 802.11 station has authenticated and associated with the Access Point. During a passive scan, the steering process cycles through the available antenna positions and monitors an AP beacon signal to determine a best position based on, for example, a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI). During an active scan where access probing is used, the steering process cycles through the antenna positions and monitors a probe response to determine the best antenna position. Additional scans may be performed based on a decision that the received signal level of the currently selected antenna position has dropped below a predetermined threshold.
222 Citations
27 Claims
-
1. A method for operating a directional antenna in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), comprising:
-
causing a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer to provide metrics associated with respective beam angles of the directional antenna; and
based on the metrics, steering the directional antenna to a selected direction associated with an Access Point (AP). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. An apparatus for operating a directional antenna in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), comprising:
-
a Station Management Entity (SME) that causes a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer to provide metrics associated with respective beam angles of the directional antenna; and
an antenna control unit coupled to the directional antenna that receives input based on the metrics from the SME and, in turn, causes the directional antenna to steer an antenna beam to a selected direction associated direction associated with an Access Point (AP). - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
-
-
27. An apparatus for operating a directional antenna in a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), comprising:
-
means for causing a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer to provide metrics associated with respective beam angles of the directional antenna; and
means for steering the directional antenna based on the metrics to a selected direction associated with an Access Point (AP).
-
Specification