Method for associating access points with stations using bid techniques
First Claim
1. A method for use in an access point in a wireless communications environment including multiple access points and stations, wherein stations gain network access by associating with one or more of the access points, comprising:
- at each of a plurality of access points within communication range of stations, repeatedly executing the steps of;
collecting bid messages from stations not currently associated with that access point, each bid message indicative of a request to associate, and including a parameter related to the distance between the access point and the station;
selecting only a subset of the bid messages based at least in part on the parameter related to distance; and
sending an accept message to each station from which a selected bid message was received, the accept message for causing the station to associate with the access point.
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Abstract
The performance and ease of management of wireless communications environments is improved by a mechanism that enables access points (APs) to perform automatic channel selection. A wireless network can therefore include multiple APs, each of which will automatically choose a channel such that channel usage is optimized. Furthermore, APs can perform automatic power adjustment so that multiple APs can operate on the same channel while minimizing interference with each other. Wireless stations are load balanced across APs so that user bandwidth is optimized. A movement detection scheme provides seamless roaming of stations between APs.
59 Citations
7 Claims
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1. A method for use in an access point in a wireless communications environment including multiple access points and stations, wherein stations gain network access by associating with one or more of the access points, comprising:
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at each of a plurality of access points within communication range of stations, repeatedly executing the steps of; collecting bid messages from stations not currently associated with that access point, each bid message indicative of a request to associate, and including a parameter related to the distance between the access point and the station; selecting only a subset of the bid messages based at least in part on the parameter related to distance; and sending an accept message to each station from which a selected bid message was received, the accept message for causing the station to associate with the access point. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 6)
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5. A method for use in an access point in a wireless communications environment including multiple access points and stations, wherein stations gain network access by associating with one or more of the access points, comprising:
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at each of a plurality of the access points within communication range of the stations, repeatedly executing the steps of; collecting bid messages from stations not currently associated with that access point, each bid message indicative of a request to associate, and including a parameter related to the distance between the access point and the station; maintaining a table including an entry for each station from which a bid message has been received, each entry including the parameter; selecting only a subset of the bid messages based at least in part on the parameters in the table; and sending an accept message to each station which submitted a selected bid, the accept message for causing the station to associate with the access point.
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7. A method for use in an access point in a wireless communications environment including multiple access points and stations, wherein stations gain network access by associating with one or more of the access points, comprising:
periodically, at each of a plurality of access points within communication range of stations; collecting bid messages from stations not currently associated with that access point, each bid message indicative of a request to associate; selecting the bid from the station having the lowest data rate; and sending an accept message to the station which submitted the selected bid, the accept message indicating that the station is permitted to associate with the access point.
Specification