ENHANCED ACTIVE SCANNING IN WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORKS

• US 20170295538A1
• Filed: 06/26/2017
• Published: 10/12/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/03/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: InterDigital Patent Holdings, Inc. (InterDigital, Inc.)
• Inventors: ZHANG, Guodong, WANG, Lei, WANG, Xiaofei, Levy, Joseph S., Olesen, Robert L.
• Granted Patent: US 10,104,600 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/622 Layer-2 addresses, e.g. medium access control [MAC] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/162 at the data link layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/062 Pre-authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/10 using broadcasted information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/14 using user query or user detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/04 Wireless resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 999/99 dummy group

Abstract

A method for active scanning in a wireless network may include two transmitters. In such a method, the following steps may take place: initiating active scanning on at least one of a plurality of channels; waiting to transmit a first probe request on a first channel of the plurality of channels based on a delay timer; receiving at the first STA, while the delay timer is not expired, a probe request from a second STA; and skipping the first probe request on the first channel of the plurality of channels based on information contained in the received probe request from the second STA.

Claims

1. A method for use in an IEEE 802.11 station (STA) for fast initial link setup (FILS), the method comprising:

receiving a frame from an IEEE 802.11 access point (AP) comprising an information element, wherein the information element includes access information comprising at least one identifier (ID) of at least one IEEE 802.11 STA that is allowed to conduct a FILS procedure with the IEEE 802.11 AP and an indication of a specific time interval for conducting the FILS procedure during which the at least one IEEE 802.11 STA is allowed to associate with the IEEE 802.11 AP using one or more FILS frames; and

on a condition that the at least one ID of the at least one IEEE 802.11 STA matches an ID of the IEEE 802.11 STA, conducting the FILS procedure, including transmitting an association request message to the IEEE 802.11 AP, during the indicated specific time interval.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the frame is a beacon frame.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the frame is a probe response frame.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the information element further includes priority information for at least one IEEE 802.11 STA.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein conducting the FILS procedure comprises transmitting an authentication frame to the IEEE 802.11 AP.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein conducting the FILS procedure comprises transmitting a probe request frame to the IEEE 802.11 AP.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifier is a medium access control (MAC) address.

8. An IEEE 802.11 station (STA) configured to perform fast initial link setup (FILS), the IEEE 802.11 STA comprising:

a transmitter;

a receiver configured to receive a frame from an IEEE 802.11 access point (AP) comprising an information element, wherein the information element includes access information comprising at least one identifier (ID) of at least one IEEE 802.11 STA that is allowed to conduct a FILS procedure with the IEEE 802.11 AP and an indication of a specific time interval for conducting the FILS procedure during which the at least one IEEE 802.11 STA is allowed to associate with the IEEE 802.11 AP using one or more FILS frames; and

a processor configured to determine if at least one ID of the at least one IEEE 802.11 STA matches an ID of the IEEE 802.11 STA; and

the processor further configured to conduct the FILS procedure, including transmitting an association request message to the IEEE 802.11 AP, during the indicated specific time interval on a condition that the at least one ID of the at least one IEEE 802.11 STA matches the ID of the IEEE 802.11 STA.

9. The IEEE 802.11 STA of claim 8, wherein the frame is a beacon frame.

10. The IEEE 802.11 STA of claim 8, wherein the frame is a probe response frame.

11. The IEEE 802.11 STA of claim 8, wherein the information element further includes priority information for at least one IEEE 802.11 STA.

12. The IEEE 802.11 STA of claim 8, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit an authentication frame to the IEEE 802.11 AP, in accordance with the FILS procedure.

13. The IEEE 802.11 STA of claim 8, wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit a probe request frame to the IEEE 802.11 AP, in accordance with the FILS procedure.

14. The IEEE 802.11 STA of claim 8, wherein the identifier is a medium access control (MAC) address.

15. A method for use in an IEEE 802.11 access point (AP) for fast initial link setup (FILS), the method comprising:

transmitting a frame to an IEEE 802.11 station (STA) comprising an information element, wherein the information element includes access information comprising at least one identifier (ID) of at least one IEEE 802.11 STA that is allowed to conduct a FILS procedure with the IEEE 802.11 AP and an indication of a specific time interval for conducting the FILS procedure during which the at least one IEEE 802.11 STA is allowed to associate with the IEEE 802.11 AP using one or more FILS frames; and

on a condition that the at least one ID of the at least one IEEE 802.11 STA matches an ID of the IEEE 802.11 STA, receiving at least one FILS frame, including an association request frame, from the IEEE 802.11 STA during the indicated specific time interval.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the frame is a beacon frame.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the frame is a probe response frame.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the information element further includes priority information for at least one IEEE 802.11 STA.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one FILS frame received from the IEEE 802.11 STA during the indicated specific time interval includes an authentication frame.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one FILS frame received from the IEEE 802.11 STA during the indicated specific time interval includes a probe request frame.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the identifier is a medium access control (MAC) address.

22. An IEEE 802.11 access point (AP) configured to perform fast initial link setup (FILS), the 802.11 AP comprising:

a transmitter configured to transmit a frame to an IEEE 802.11 station (STA) comprising an information element, wherein the information element includes access information comprising at least one identifier (ID) of at least one IEEE 802.11 STA that is allowed to conduct a FILS procedure with the IEEE 802.11 AP and an indication of a specific time interval for conducting the FILS procedure during which the at least one IEEE 802.11 STA is allowed to associate with the IEEE 802.11 AP using one or more FILS frames; and

a receiver configured to receive at least one FILS frame, including an association request frame, from the IEEE 802.11 STA during the indicated specific time interval, on a condition that the at least one ID of the at least one IEEE 802.11 STA matches an ID of the IEEE 802.11 STA.

23. The IEEE 802.11 AP of claim 22, wherein the frame is a beacon frame.

24. The IEEE 802.11 AP of claim 22, wherein the frame is a probe response frame.

25. The IEEE 802.11 AP of claim 22, wherein the information element further includes priority information for at least one IEEE 802.11 STA.

26. The IEEE 802.11 AP of claim 22, wherein the at least one FILS frame received from the IEEE 802.11 STA during the indicated specific time interval includes an authentication frame.

27. The IEEE 802.11 AP of claim 22, wherein the at least one FILS frame received from the IEEE 802.11 STA during the indicated specific time interval includes a probe request frame.

28. The IEEE 802.11 AP of claim 22, wherein the identifier is a medium access control (MAC) address.