Smart wireless station

• US 20070064634A1
• Filed: 09/16/2005
• Published: 03/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Harrington, Kendra, Huotari, Allen
• Granted Patent: US 8,315,626 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/310
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point

Abstract

Systems and methods for connecting a wireless station to a wireless network are provided. The method may include: receiving a pre-connection management signal from each of a plurality of wireless access points, each of the access points connecting an upstream network to a downstream wireless network; retrieving from each of the management signals characteristics of the access point corresponding to the management signal, said characteristics comprising information regarding the upstream network associated with the respective access point; analyzing the characteristics of the access point for each of the management signals; and based on the analysis of the characteristics of the access points, identifying a preferred access point from the plurality of access points.

Claims

1. A method of connecting a wireless station to a wireless network, comprising:

receiving a pre-connection management signal from each of a plurality of wireless access points, each of the access points connecting an upstream network to a downstream wireless network;

retrieving from each of the management signals characteristics of the access point corresponding to the management signal, said characteristics comprising information regarding the upstream network associated with the respective access point;

analyzing the characteristics of the access point for each of the management signals; and

based on the analysis of the characteristics of the access points, identifying a preferred access point from the plurality of access points.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the pre-connection management signal from each of the plurality of access points comprises a beacon signal.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting a probe request signal;

wherein the pre-connection management signal from each of the plurality of access points comprises a probe response signal.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

for each of the management signals, the information regarding the upstream network associated with the respective access point comprises information regarding a connection state of the access point with the Internet.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

notifying a user if the characteristics of the access point retrieved from a management signal satisfy a predetermined network profile.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein:

said analyzing the characteristics of the access point for each of the management signals comprises;

defining a desired network profile;

for each of the management signals, comparing the characteristics of the access point to the desired network profile; and

identifying the access point most closely corresponding to the desired network profile.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

indicating to a user a correspondence between each of the access points and the desired network profile.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein:

said analyzing the characteristics of the access point for each of the management signals comprises;

defining a plurality of profiles, each of the profiles corresponding to one or more desired network characteristics and having an associated rank;

for each of the management signals, comparing the characteristics of the access point to the desired network characteristics in the plurality of profiles; and

identifying the access point corresponding to the highest ranked profile.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting an additional management signal from an additional access point, said additional access point connecting an upstream network to a downstream wireless network;

retrieving from the additional management signal characteristics of the additional access point, said characteristics comprising information regarding the upstream network associated with the additional access point;

comparing the characteristics of the additional access point to the desired network characteristics in the plurality of profiles; and

if the additional access point corresponds to a profile having a higher rank than the previously identified access point, connecting to the downstream wireless network of the additional access point.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the information regarding the upstream network connected to each of the plurality of wireless access points comprises one or more of the following;

a Service Set Identity (SSID), a channel number, a wireless signal strength, a wireless signal quality, encryption settings, an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the access point, a domain name of the access point, and availability of a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) address for the wireless station.

11. A wireless station, comprising:

an interface for wireless connection with a wireless access point; and

control logic configured to;

receive a pre-connection management signal from each of a plurality of wireless access points, each of the access points connecting an upstream network to a downstream wireless network;

retrieve from each of the management signals characteristics of the access point corresponding to the management signal, said characteristics comprising information regarding the upstream network associated with the respective access point;

analyze the characteristics of the access point for each of the management signals; and

based on the analysis of the characteristics of the access points, identify a preferred access point from the plurality of access points.

12. The wireless station of claim 11, wherein:

the pre-connection management signal from each of the plurality of access points comprises a beacon signal.

13. The wireless station of claim 11, wherein:

said control logic is configured to transmit a probe request signal; and

the pre-connection management signal from each of the plurality of access points comprises a probe response signal.

14. The wireless station of claim 11, wherein:

for each of the management signals, the information regarding the upstream network associated with the respective access point comprises information regarding a connection state of the access point with the Internet.

15. The wireless station of claim 11, wherein:

said control logic is configured to notify a user if the characteristics of the access point retrieved from a management signal satisfy a predetermined network profile.

16. The wireless station of claim 11, wherein:

said control logic is configured to analyze the characteristics of the access point for each of the management signals by;

defining a desired network profile;

for each of the management signals, comparing the characteristics of the access point to the desired network profile; and

identifying the access point most closely corresponding to the desired network profile.

17. The wireless station of claim 16, wherein:

said control logic is configured to indicate to a user a correspondence between each of the access points and the desired network profile.

18. The wireless station of claim 11, wherein said control logic is configured to analyze the characteristics of the access point for each of the management signals by:

defining a plurality of profiles, each of the profiles corresponding to one or more desired network characteristics and having an associated rank;

for each of the management signals, comparing the characteristics of the access point to the desired network characteristics in the plurality of profiles; and

identifying the access point corresponding to the highest ranked profile.

19. The wireless station of claim 11, wherein said control logic is further configured to:

detect an additional management signal from an additional access point, said additional access point connecting an upstream network to a downstream wireless network;

retrieve from the additional management signal characteristics of the additional access point, said characteristics comprising information regarding the upstream network associated with the additional access point;

compare the characteristics of the additional access point to the desired network characteristics in the plurality of profiles; and

if the additional access point corresponds to a profile having a higher rank than the previously identified access point, connect to the downstream wireless network of the additional access point.

20. The wireless station of claim 11, wherein:

the information regarding the upstream network connected to each of the plurality of wireless access points comprises one or more of the following;

a Service Set Identity (SSID), a channel number, a wireless signal strength, a wireless signal quality, encryption settings, an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the access point, a domain name of the access point, and availability of a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) address for the wireless station.

21. A wireless station, comprising:

an interface for wireless connection with a wireless access point; and

means for receiving a pre-connection management signal from each of a plurality of wireless access points, each of the access points connecting an upstream network to a downstream wireless network;

means for retrieving from each of the management signals characteristics of the access point corresponding to the management signal, said characteristics comprising information regarding the upstream network associated with the respective access point;

means for analyzing the characteristics of the access point for each of the management signals; and

means for identifying a preferred access point from the plurality of access points based on the analysis of the characteristics of the access points.