WIRELESS NETWORK AUTHENTICATION CONTROL

• US 20180206116A1
• Filed: 03/15/2017
• Published: 07/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Aruba Networks Incorporated (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Inventors: Ismail, Akram Sheriff
• Granted Patent: US 10,516,998 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/808 User-type aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/824 Applicable to portable or mobile terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/12 using downlink control channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

In some examples, a method includes assigning, with an Access Point (AP) in a wireless network, a value for an Authentication Control Threshold (ACT) field in an advertisement packet that allows devices having a predetermined access control role to immediately attempt to associate with the AP. The method can further include transmitting, with the AP, the advertisement packet including the value for the ACT field for devices having the predetermined access control role.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

assigning, with an Access Point (AP) in a wireless network, a value for an Authentication Control Threshold (ACT) field in an advertisement packet that allows devices having a predetermined access control role to immediately attempt to associate with the AP; and

transmitting, with the AP, the advertisement packet including the value for the ACT field for devices having the predetermined access control role.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the value for the ACT field is a maximum value for the ACT field.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the maximum value is 1022.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined access control role is an access control role for Internet of Things (IOT) devices.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the SSID is an Extended SSID (ESSID).

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the access control role is a Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) role.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the access control role is a role based on attributes in an Attribute-Based Access Control (ABAC) model.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

binding the predetermined access control role to a Service Set Identification (SSID) for the AP.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning a value for the ACT field allows devices having the predetermined access control role to immediately attempt to associate with the AP without the use of an additional Information Element (IE).

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assigning, with the AP, a random value between a minimum value and a maximum value to an ACT field in an advertisement packet for devices having an access control role other than the predetermined access control role; and

transmitting, with the AP, the advertisement packet including the random value for the ACT field for devices having an access control role other than the predetermined access control role.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

associating, with the AP, a device having the predetermined access control role to the AP.

12. A non-transitory machine readable storage medium having stored thereon machine readable instructions to cause a computer processor to:

bind an Internet of Things (IOT) access control role to a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Service Set Identification (SSID); and

assign, for devices having the IOT access control role, a maximum value for an Authentication Control Threshold (ACT) field of an advertisement packet for an Access Point (AP) in the WLAN.

13. The medium of claim 12, wherein the maximum value for the ACT field is to allow devices with the IOT access control role to attempt to immediately associate with the AP.

14. An Access Point (AP) in a wireless network, the AP comprising:

a processing resource; and

a memory resource storing machine readable instructions to cause the processing resource to;

bind an Internet of Things (IOT) Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) role to a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) service set; and

set an Authentication Control Threshold (ACT) value of a beacon packet to 1022 for devices having the IOT RBAC role.

15. The AP of claim 14, wherein the device having the IOT RBAC role is compliant with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11ah wireless networking protocol.