Access Point Control System and Access Point Control Method

• US 20080040476A1
• Filed: 07/06/2005
• Published: 02/14/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Matsui, Hironori, Iino, Satoshi, Ishihara, Tomohiro
• Application Number:
  US11/631,969
• Publication Number:
  US 20080040476A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2856 Access arrangements, e.g. Internet access asynchronous transfer mode networks H04L12/5601; broadband local area networks H04L12/2801; optical access or distribution networks H04Q11/0067; access to open networks H04L12/5691; digital subscriber line end-user equipment and bit-level processing of data on a PSTN-based network H04M11/00; home network gateways H04L12/2834; wireless access networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/12 Access point controller devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/12 between access points and access point controllers

Abstract

An access point control system enables transmission of statistic information on access point devices without communicating extra messages, that is, spending CPU recourses and network band resources unnecessarily. In the system, when the access point devices (101-1 to 101-3) send a session maintenance message to an access point control device (102), the devices report the statistic information to the access point control device (102) at the same time. On receiving the statistic information, the access point control device (102) holds it. On receiving from a network control device (103) a statistic information acquisition request for the statistic information on an access point device, the access point control device (102) reports the statistic information received from the access point device to the network management device (103).

Claims

1. An access point control system comprising:

a plurality of access point apparatuses;

an access point control apparatus that controls the plurality of access point apparatuses by sending messages to the plurality of access point apparatuses; and

a network management apparatus that manages the access point control apparatus by sending messages to the access point control apparatus, wherein;

the plurality of access point apparatuses each comprise a statistics information simultaneous reporting section that sends a keep alive message to the access point control apparatus and at the same time reports statistics information to the access point control apparatus; and

the access point control apparatus comprises;

a statistics information storage section that receives and stores the statistics information; and

a statistics information reporting section that, when a statistics information acquisition request requesting an acquisition of the statistics information from the access point apparatuses is received from the network management apparatus, reports the statistics information received from the access point apparatuses to the network management apparatus.

2. In an access point control system comprising:

a plurality of access point apparatuses;

an access point control apparatus that controls the plurality of access point apparatuses by sending messages to the plurality of access point apparatuses; and

a network management apparatus that manages the access point control apparatus by sending messages to the access point control apparatus, an access point control method comprising the steps of;

at each of the plurality of access point apparatuses, sending a keep alive message to the access point control apparatus and at the same time reporting statistics information to the access point control apparatus;

at the access point control apparatus, receiving and storing the statistics information; and

at the access point control apparatus, when a statistics information acquisition request requesting an acquisition of the statistics information from the access point apparatuses is received from the network management apparatus, reporting the statistics information received from the access point apparatuses to the network management apparatus.