DYNAMIC GROUPING AND CONFIGURATION OF ACCESS POINTS

• US 20150036488A1
• Filed: 07/30/2013
• Published: 02/05/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Aruba Networks Incorporated (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Inventors: Mettu, Shravan K., Pang, Jackson N., Vaidyanathan, Shyam S.
• Granted Patent: US 9,225,602 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/230
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5072 Grid computing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5009 Determining service level performance parameters or violations of service level contracts, e.g. violations of agreed response time or mean time between failures [MTBF]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5096 wherein the managed service relates to distributed or central networked applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0876 Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/60 Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits

Abstract

A method is described for moving one or more access points between neighboring enterprise networks such that one or more threshold requirements of the networks are met. By reconfiguring access points to move between enterprise networks, the method provides a highly flexible network system that utilizes environmental and/or operational data to dynamically meet the needs of associated client devices and consumers.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more hardware processors, causes performance of operations comprising:

configuring a first set of access points to provide network access to a first set of client devices;

dynamically determining that at least one additional access point, not currently in the first set of access points, is needed to provide network access to the first set of client devices; and

adding at least one additional access point to the first set of access points at least by configuring the at least one additional access point to provide network access to the first set of client devices.

2. The medium of claim 1, wherein configuring the at least one additional access point to provide network access to the first set of client devices comprises modifying at least a portion of a configuration of the at least one access point to match a configuration shared across all access points in the first set of access points providing network access to the first set of client devices.

3. The medium of claim 1, wherein adding at least one additional access point to the first set of access points comprises transferring the at least one additional access point from a first enterprise network to a second enterprise network that comprises the first set of access points.

4. The medium of claim 1, wherein dynamically determining that at least one additional access point is needed comprises determining at runtime that a current number of client devices in the first set of client devices is above a particular threshold or determining at runtime that a current traffic load at, at least one of the first set of access points is above a particular threshold.

5. The medium of claim 1, wherein dynamically determining that at least one additional access point is needed is based on a schedule identifying a number of client devices or a load associated with client devices to be included in the first set of client devices at a particular time.

6. The medium of claim 1, wherein adding the at least one additional access point to the first set of access points comprises removing the at least one additional access point from a second set of access points providing network access to a second set of client devices.

7. The medium of claim 1, wherein dynamically determining that at least one additional access point is needed comprises determining that a received signal strength for one or more signals transmitted between a particular client device in the first set of client devices and a particular access point in the first set of access points is below a particular threshold.

8. The medium of claim 1, wherein dynamically determining that at least one additional access point is needed comprises determining that the additional access point is better suited to provide network access to a particular client device in the first set of client devices than at least one access point in the first set of client devices.

9. The medium of claim 1, wherein adding the at least one additional access point to the first set of access points comprises configuring the at least one additional access point to advertise a same SSID as other access points in the first set of access points.

10. The medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

dynamically determining that one or more access points in the first set of access points are not needed to provide network access to the first set of client devices; and

responsive to determining that the one or more access points are not needed, transferring the one or more access points from the first set of access points to a second set of access points to provide network access to a second set of clients.

11. The medium of claim 1, wherein dynamically determining that at least one additional access point is needed comprises determining that network access provided by the first set of access points to the first set of client devices does not meet a service level agreement associated with the first set of client devices.

12. The medium of claim 1, wherein the first set of client devices comprise client devices physically located within a defined area.

13. The medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

publishing, by one or more access points in the first set of access points, parameters characterizing the environment or operation of the one or more access points.

14. The medium of claim 13, wherein the parameters are published to a master access point in the first set of access points and the master access point dynamically determines that at least one additional access point is needed based on the published parameters.

15. The medium of claim 9, wherein the at least one additional access point simultaneously advertises the same SSID as other access points in the first set of access points and a same SSID as other access points in a second set of access points.

16. A system comprising:

a device including a hardware processor, the system being configured to perform the operations of;

configuring a first set of access points to provide network access to a first set of client devices;

dynamically determining that at least one additional access point, not currently in the first set of access points, is needed to provide network access to the first set of client devices; and

adding at least one additional access point to the first set of access points at least by configuring the at least one additional access point to provide network access to the first set of client devices.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein configuring the at least one additional access point to provide network access to the first set of client devices comprises modifying at least a portion of a configuration of the at least one access point to match a configuration shared across all access points in the first set of access points providing network access to the first set of client devices.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein adding at least one additional access point to the first set of access points comprises transferring the at least one additional access point from a first enterprise network to a second enterprise network that comprises the first set of access points.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein dynamically determining that at least one additional access point is needed comprises determining at runtime that a current number of client devices in the first set of client devices is above a particular threshold or determining at runtime that a current traffic load at, at least one of the first set of access points is above a particular threshold.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein dynamically determining that at least one additional access point is needed is based on a schedule identifying a number of client devices or a load associated with client devices to be included in the first set of client devices at a particular time.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein adding the at least one additional access point to the first set of access points comprises removing the at least one additional access point from a second set of access points providing network access to a second set of client devices.

22. The system of claim 16, wherein dynamically determining that at least one additional access point is needed comprises determining that a received signal strength for one or more signals transmitted between a particular client device in the first set of client devices and a particular access point in the first set of access points is below a particular threshold.

23. The system of claim 16, wherein dynamically determining that at least one additional access point is needed comprises determining that the additional access point is better suited to provide network access to a particular client device in the first set of client devices than at least one access point in the first set of client devices.

24. The system of claim 16, wherein adding the at least one additional access point to the first set of access points comprises configuring the at least one additional access point to advertise a same SSID as other access points in the first set of access points.

25. The system of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

dynamically determining that one or more access points in the first set of access points are not needed to provide network access to the first set of client devices; and

responsive to determining that the one or more access points are not needed, transferring the one or more access points from the first set of access points to a second set of access points to provide network access to a second set of clients.

26. The system of claim 16, wherein dynamically determining that at least one additional access point is needed comprises determining that network access provided by the first set of access points to the first set of client devices does not meet a service level agreement associated with the first set of client devices.

27. The system of claim 16, wherein the first set of client devices comprises client devices physically located within a defined area.

28. The system of claim 16, wherein the operations further comprise:

publishing, by one or more access points in the first set of access points parameters characterizing the environment or operation of the one or more access points.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the parameters are published to a master access point in the first set of access points and the master access point dynamically determines that at least one additional access point is needed based on the published parameters.

30. The system of claim 24, wherein the at least one additional access point simultaneously advertises the same SSID as other access points in the first set of access points and a same SSID as other access points in a second set of access points.