Hardware control interface for IEEE standard 802.11

• US 20090031046A1
• Filed: 07/27/2007
• Published: 01/29/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Kuehnel, Thomas W., Ruan, Jiandong
• Granted Patent: US 8,346,974 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/250
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/36 for access to common bus or bus system
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/90 Buffering arrangements

Abstract

A standardized 802.11 hardware control interface may be provided such that a driver may communicate with any one or more of a variety of network adapters.

Claims

1. A computer system, comprising:

a processing unit comprising at least one processor;

a driver module that executes on the processing unit, the driver module comprising a hardware control interface, the driver module being configured to at least partially control a network adapter to engage in communication in accordance with IEEE standard 802.11 using the hardware control interface, the hardware control interface being designed to exchange network adapter independent control information with at least two network adapters of different types.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the hardware control interface has no greater than fifty interface components.

3. The computer system of claim 2, wherein the hardware control interface has no greater than ten interface components.

4. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the computer system further comprises the network adapter.

5. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the hardware control interface is designed to exchange network adapter control information with any one or more of a plurality of network adapters of different types over any one or more of a plurality of different data busses of different types.

6. The computer system of claim 5, wherein the plurality of different types of data busses includes a serial bus and a parallel bus.

7. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of different types of network adapters comprises a first type of network adapter designed by a first network adapter developer and a second type of network adapter designed by a second network adapter developer.

8. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the hardware control interface comprises a transmission control interface component configured to provide transmission control information to the network adapter.

9. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the hardware control interface further comprises a transmission status interface component configured to receive transmission status information from the network adapter.

10. The computer system of claim 8, wherein the hardware control interface further comprises a reception control interface component configured to receive reception control information from the network adapter.

11. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the hardware control interface further comprises a station/access point interface configured to control the network adapter to change between operating in a station mode and operating in an access point mode.

12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the hardware control interface further comprises a beacon control interface configured to control the network adapter to transmit a wireless beacon message in accordance with IEEE standard 802.11.

13. In a computer system comprising a driver module that at least partially controls a network adapter to engage in wireless communication in accordance with IEEE standard 802.11, a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions, which, when executed, perform a method comprising an act of:

(A) exchanging, by the driver module, control information with the network adapter to at least partially control the network adapter, the control information being exchanged with the network adapter via a hardware control interface, the hardware control interface being designed to exchange network adapter independent control information with at least two network adapters of different types.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein (A) comprises providing reception control information to the network adapter.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 14, wherein (A) comprises receiving reception control information from the network adapter.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein (A) comprises controlling the network adapter to change between operating in a station mode and operating in an access point mode.

17. A method of developing a driver module, the method comprising acts of:

(A) analyzing a hardware control interface developed by a first developer entity that is independent of second developer entity which is developing the driver module, the hardware control interface having been developed such that at least two network adapters of different types can exchange network adapter independent control information via the hardware control interface; and

(B) designing a driver to at least partially control one or more of the at least two network adapters via the hardware control interface to engage in IEEE 802.11 wireless communication.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

(C) designing a network adapter to exchange information via the hardware control interface.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein a first one of the at least two network adapters was developed by a third developer entity and a second one of the at least two network adapters was developed by a fourth developer entity.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein a first one of the at least two network adapters is configured to communicate with a computer via a first type of data bus and a second one of the at least two network adapters is configured to communicate with a computer via a second type of data bus.