INITIAL SCAN ENHANCEMENTS

• US 20150282056A1
• Filed: 03/23/2015
• Published: 10/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: CHERIAN, George, PATIL, Abhishek Pramod, ABRAHAM, Santosh Paul
• Granted Patent: US 9,877,272 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided. In one aspect, an apparatus includes a processor configured to send a request to at least one station associated with the apparatus to scan for information related to at least one neighboring access point (AP) operating in a neighborhood of the apparatus and report the information to the apparatus, receive from the at least one associated station a report including the information, generate a neighborhood report related to the at least one neighboring AP, the neighborhood report including the information received from the at least one associated station, and transmit the neighborhood report to one or more other stations not associated with the apparatus to facilitate discovery of an AP of interest to the one or more other stations.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication at an access point (AP), comprising:

sending a request to at least one station associated with the AP to scan for information related to at least one neighboring AP operating in a neighborhood of the AP and report the information to the AP;

receiving from the at least one associated station an information report including the information related to the at least one neighboring AP operating in the neighborhood of the AP;

generating a neighborhood report related to the at least one neighboring AP, the neighborhood report including the information received from the at least one associated station; and

transmitting the neighborhood report to one or more other stations not associated with the AP to facilitate discovery of an AP of interest to the one or more other stations.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information comprises an identifier of the at least one neighboring AP.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the neighborhood report comprises a reduced version of the identifier.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the neighborhood report is transmitted via at least one of:

a beacon frame;

a probe response frame;

or

a Fast Initial Link Setup (FILS) discovery frame as defined by IEEE 802.11ai.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the neighborhood report is transmitted via the FILS discovery frame on a common channel different from an operating channel.

6. The method of claim 5, the transmitting comprising:

transmitting a clear-to-send (CTS) signal on the operating channel to disable communication on the operating channel prior to the FILS discovery frame being transmitted on the common channel different from the operating channel, wherein the AP is a single-radio AP.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the request for the information is sent via a measurement request;

the information report from the at least one associated station including the information is received via a measurement report; and

the neighborhood report is transmitted via a reduced neighbor report.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the measurement request is included in an IEEE 802.11 beacon request and the measurement report is included in an IEEE 802.11 beacon report.

9. An access point (AP) for wireless communication, comprising:

means for generating a neighborhood report, the neighborhood report including information related to at least one neighboring AP operating in a neighborhood of the AP, wherein the information is received from at least one station associated with the AP; and

means for transmitting the neighborhood report to one or more other stations not associated with the AP to facilitate discovery of an AP of interest to the one or more other stations.

10. The AP of claim 9, wherein the information comprises an identifier of the at least one neighboring AP.

11. The AP of claim 10, wherein the neighborhood report comprises a reduced version of the identifier.

12. The AP of claim 9, wherein the neighborhood report is transmitted via at least one of:

a beacon frame;

a probe response frame;

or

a Fast Initial Link Setup (FILS) discovery frame as defined by IEEE 802.11ai.

13. The AP of claim 12, wherein the neighborhood report is transmitted via the FILS discovery frame on a common channel different from an operating channel.

14. The AP of claim 13, the means for transmitting configured to:

transmit a clear-to-send (CTS) signal on the operating channel to disable communication on the operating channel prior to the FILS discovery frame being transmitted on the common channel different from the operating channel, wherein the AP is a single-radio AP.

15. The AP of claim 9, further comprising:

means for sending a request to the at least one associated station to scan for the information related to the at least one neighboring AP operating in the neighborhood of the AP and report the information to the AP; and

means for receiving from the at least one associated station an information report including the information related to the at least one neighboring AP operating in the neighborhood of the AP,

wherein;

the request for the information is sent via a measurement request, the information report from the at least one associated station including the information is received via a measurement report, and

the neighborhood report is transmitted via a reduced neighbor report.

16. The AP of claim 15, wherein the measurement request is included in an IEEE 802.11 beacon request and the measurement report is included in an IEEE 802.11 beacon report.

17. An access point (AP) for wireless communication, comprising:

a memory; and

a processing system coupled to the memory and configured to;

generate a neighborhood report, the neighborhood report including information related to at least one neighboring AP operating in a neighborhood of the AP, wherein the information is received from at least one station associated with the AP; and

transmit the neighborhood report to one or more other stations not associated with the AP to facilitate discovery of an AP of interest to the one or more other stations.

18. The AP of claim 17, wherein the information comprises an identifier of the at least one neighboring AP.

19. The AP of claim 17, wherein the neighborhood report is transmitted via at least one of:

a beacon frame;

a probe response frame;

or

a Fast Initial Link Setup (FILS) discovery frame as defined by IEEE 802.11ai.

20. The AP of claim 19, wherein the neighborhood report is transmitted via the FILS discovery frame on a common channel different from an operating channel.

21. The AP of claim 20, the processing system further configured to:

transmit a clear-to-send (CTS) signal on the operating channel to disable communication on the operating channel prior to the FILS discovery frame being transmitted on the common channel different from the operating channel, wherein the AP is a single-radio AP.

22. The AP of claim 17, the processing system further configured to:

send a request to the at least one associated station to scan for the information related to the at least one neighboring AP operating in the neighborhood of the AP and report the information to the AP; and

receive from the at least one associated station an information report including the information related to the at least one neighboring AP operating in the neighborhood of the AP,

wherein;

the request for the information is sent via a measurement request,

the information report from the at least one associated station including the information is received via a measurement report, and

the neighborhood report is transmitted via a reduced neighbor report.

23. The AP of claim 22, wherein the measurement request is included in an IEEE 802.11 beacon request and the measurement report is included in an IEEE 802.11 beacon report.

24. A computer program product of an access point (AP), comprising:

a computer-readable medium comprising code for;

generating a neighborhood report, the neighborhood report including information related to at least one neighboring AP operating in a neighborhood of the AP, wherein the information is received from at least one station associated with the AP; and

transmitting the neighborhood report to one or more other stations not associated with the AP to facilitate discovery of an AP of interest to the one or more other stations.

25. The computer program product of claim 24, wherein the information comprises an identifier of the at least one neighboring AP.

26. The computer program product of claim 24, wherein the neighborhood report is transmitted via at least one of:

a beacon frame;

a probe response frame;

or

a Fast Initial Link Setup (FILS) discovery frame as defined by IEEE 802.11ai.

27. The computer program product of claim 26, wherein the neighborhood report is transmitted via the FILS discovery frame on a common channel different from an operating channel.

28. The computer program product of claim 27, the code for transmitting configured to:

transmit a clear-to-send (CTS) signal on the operating channel to disable communication on the operating channel prior to the FILS discovery frame being transmitted on the common channel different from the operating channel, wherein the AP is a single-radio AP.

29. The computer program product of claim 24, the computer-readable medium further comprising code for

sending a request to the at least one associated station to scan for the information related to the at least one neighboring AP operating in the neighborhood of the AP and report the information to the AP;

and

receiving from the at least one associated station an information report including the information related to the at least one neighboring AP operating in the neighborhood of the AP,

wherein;

the request for the information is sent via a measurement request,

the information report from the at least one associated station including the information is received via a measurement report, and

the neighborhood report is transmitted via a reduced neighbor report.

30. The computer program product of claim 29, wherein the measurement request is included in an IEEE 802.11 beacon request and the measurement report is included in an IEEE 802.11 beacon report.