Method and Apparatus for Access Point Selection in Wireless LAN
First Claim
1. A method for selecting an access point for a mobile station to associate, comprising:
- in each of a plurality of channels;
(i) obtaining, from an access point associated with the channel, load information at the access point for each of a plurality of access categories;
(ii) calculating a load metric based on the load information; and
selecting the access point that is associated with the channel having the least of the load metrics among the channels.
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Abstract
A method and an apparatus select an access point (AP) in a wireless LAN to associate or reassociate, based on considerations that take into account the quality-of-service (QoS) status of the stations (STAs) and the potential hidden terminal effect. The method utilizes advertised or requested information obtained from an AP which includes the QoS status in each basic service set (BSS) and estimates the potential hidden terminal (HT) effect based on local channel sensing by the STA. The method selects the AP in a manner that reduces the possibility of collision from equal and higher priority HTs, thus providing greater transmission throughput and improving performance.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method for selecting an access point for a mobile station to associate, comprising:
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in each of a plurality of channels; (i) obtaining, from an access point associated with the channel, load information at the access point for each of a plurality of access categories; (ii) calculating a load metric based on the load information; and selecting the access point that is associated with the channel having the least of the load metrics among the channels. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. An apparatus for selecting an access point in a wireless local area network (WLAN), comprising:
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BSS load request means for obtaining load information according to access categories from a plurality of access points associated with a plurality of channels and for obtaining from frames transmitted within each channel heard load information according to access categories; Calculation and storage means calculating a load metric based on the load information; Access point selection means that selects the access point from the calculated load metric; and Judgment means for controlling the operations of the load request means, the calculation and storage means, and the access point selection means according to an access point selection method. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A system for allowing an efficient access point selection in a wireless computer network, comprising:
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a plurality of access points of the wireless computer network having overlapping coverage areas operating on a plurality channels, each access point being configured to provide load information regarding its channel by access categories; and a mobile station configured to (i) receive at the overlapping coverage areas the load information by access categories from the access point;
(ii) calculate a load metric for each channel based on the load information from the access points; and
(iii) select one of the access point based on the calculated load metrics. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification