METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WI-FI CONNECTION USING WI-FI PROTECTED SETUP IN PORTABLE TERMINAL

• US 20130100855A1
• Filed: 10/25/2012
• Published: 04/25/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: JUNG, Bu-Seop, LEE, Jung-Hun
• Granted Patent: US 9,137,306 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1044 Group management mechanisms management of multicast group membership H04L12/185; reconfiguring of node membership in a computing system to eliminate errors G06F11/1425
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/11 Allocation or use of connection identifiers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/02 Hierarchically pre-organised networks, e.g. paging networks, cellular networks, WLAN [Wireless Local Area Network] or WLL [Wireless Local Loop]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for Wi-Fi connection based on Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) in a portable terminal are provided. The method includes entering a group owner mode of Wi-Fi Direct when enabling of WPS is requested, after entering the group owner mode, entering a WPS session mode where the portable terminal is operable in a WPS registrar mode, determining whether an Access Point (AP) whose WPS session of the WPS registrar mode is enabled or a device whose group owner mode is enabled, exists nearby, and when an AP whose WPS registrar mode is enabled is discovered, disabling the WPS registrar mode and the group owner mode, enabling a WPS session where the portable terminal is to operate in a WPS enrollee mode, and accessing the discovered AP.

Claims

1. A method for Wi-Fi connection based on a Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) in a portable terminal, the method comprising:

entering a group owner mode of Wi-Fi Direct when enabling of WPS is requested;

after entering the group owner mode, entering a WPS session mode where the portable terminal is operable in a WPS registrar mode;

determining whether an Access Point (AP) whose WPS session of the WPS registrar mode is enabled or a device whose group owner mode is enabled, exists nearby; and

when an AP whose WPS registrar mode is enabled or a device whose group owner mode is enabled is discovered, disabling the WPS registrar mode and the group owner mode, enabling a WPS session where the portable terminal is to operate in a WPS enrollee mode, and accessing the discovered AP.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, when a device whose group owner mode is enabled is discovered, determining a group owner of Wi-Fi Direct from among the portable terminal and the discovered device, and forming a Wi-Fi Peer to Peer (P2P) group according to the determination results.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the forming of the Wi-Fi P2P group comprises:

when a device whose group owner mode is enabled is discovered, comparing a prefix of a Service Set Identifier (SSID) name of the portable terminal, which is generated in a group owner mode entry process, with a prefix of an SSID name of the discovered device; and

forming the Wi-Fi P2P group according to the prefix comparison results.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the forming of the Wi-Fi P2P group comprises acquiring group owner rights by a device corresponding to a prefix having a greater value among the prefix of the SSID name of the portable terminal and the prefix of the SSID name of the discovered device, and forming the Wi-Fi P2P group.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the forming of the Wi-Fi P2P group comprises acquiring group owner rights by a device corresponding to a prefix having a lesser value among the prefix of the SSID name of the portable terminal and the prefix of the SSID name of the discovered device, and forming the Wi-Fi P2P group.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the forming of the Wi-Fi P2P group comprises exchanging Probe Request and Probe Response messages of an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol,

wherein the Probe Request includes at least one of a P2P Information Element (IE), a Wi-Fi Simple Configuration (WSC) IE, and a Supp Reg IE, and wherein the Probe Response includes at least one of a P2P IE, a WSC IE, a Robust Security Network (RSN) IE, and a Supp Reg IE.

7. An apparatus for Wi-Fi connection based on a Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) in a portable terminal, the apparatus comprising:

a Wi-Fi module for providing a short-range wireless communication function based on an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard;

a key input unit or a display unit for receiving a key input from a user; and

a controller for entering a group owner mode of Wi-Fi Direct when enabling of WPS is requested on the key input unit or the display unit, entering a WPS session mode where the portable terminal is operable in a WPS registrar mode, determining whether an Access Point (AP) whose WPS session of the WPS registrar mode is enabled or a device whose group owner mode is enabled, exists nearby, and when an AP whose WPS registrar mode is enabled or a device whose group owner mode is enabled is discovered, disabling the WPS registrar mode and the group owner mode, enabling a WPS session where the portable terminal is to operate in a WPS enrollee mode, and accessing the discovered AP.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein when a device whose group owner mode is enabled is discovered, the controller determines a group owner of Wi-Fi Direct from among the portable terminal and the discovered device, and forms a Wi-Fi Peer to Peer (P2P) group according to the determination results.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein when a device whose group owner mode is enabled is discovered, the controller compares a prefix of a Service Set Identifier (SSID) name of the portable terminal, which is generated in a group owner mode entry process, with a prefix of an SSID name of the discovered device, and forms the Wi-Fi P2P group according to the prefix comparison results.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein a device corresponding to a prefix having a greater value among the prefix of the SSID name of the portable terminal and the prefix of the SSID name of the discovered device, acquires group owner rights and forms the Wi-Fi P2P group.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein a device corresponding to a prefix having a lesser value among the prefix of the SSID name of the portable terminal and the prefix of the SSID name of the discovered device, acquires group owner rights and forms the Wi-Fi P2P group.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein when a device whose group owner mode is enabled is discovered, the controller forms the Wi-Fi P2P group by exchanging Probe Request and Probe Response messages of an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol,

wherein the Probe Request includes at least one of a P2P Information Element (IE), a Wi-Fi Simple Configuration (WSC) IE, and a Supp Reg IE, and wherein the Probe Response includes at least one of a P2P IE, a WSC IE, a Robust Security Network (RSN) IE, and a Supp Reg IE.