Wireless network having IEEE802.11h-incompliant terminal wireless device communicating with IEEE802.11h-compliant base wireless device

• US 7,352,716 B2
• Filed: 04/06/2005
• Issued: 04/01/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Socionext Inc.
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Matsui, Takayuki, Mikami, Taro
• Primary Examiner(s): Anderson; Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Aminzay; Shaima Q.
• Application Number:
  US11/099,452
• Publication Number:
  US 20070243892A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,091 Days
• Field of Search: 370/328, 370/208, 370/250, 370/252, 370/332, 370/335, 370/338, 370/342, 370/343, 370/347, 370/348, 370/352, 370/441, 370/447, 370/442, 370/449, 455/522, 455/450, 455/453, 455/452.1, 455/456.1
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

In a wireless network structure which includes a wireless LAN device having a base station function (host device) which is compliant with IEEE802.11h and at least one wireless LAN device having a terminal function (slave device) which is not compliant with IEEE802.11h, the incompliant terminal transmits a probe request to the base station for confirming the presence of the base station. When the base station has dynamically switched its channel (frequency), a probe response is not returned from the base station to the terminal. Thus, the incompliant terminal transmits a probe request through a different channel in order to confirm the presence of the base station. The incompliant terminal repeats the above channel search process till the base station is found.

Claims

1. A wireless device which has a terminal function compliant with IEEE802.11 standard but incompliant with IEEE802.11h standard, the wireless device being included in a wireless network formed by a wireless device having a base station function compliant with IEEE802.11h standard, the terminal wireless device comprising:

a probe request transmission circuit for transmitting a probe request to the base station wireless device, the probe request being used for confirming whether or not the base station wireless device and the incompliant terminal wireless device of the same wireless network exist in the same channel; and

a base station presence confirmation circuit for receiving a probe response which is transmitted from the base station wireless device in response to the probe request transmitted by the probe request transmission circuit, thereby confirming the presence of the base station wireless device.

2. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the probe request transmission circuit has a probe confirmation timer for measuring a time interval for transmission of the probe request.

3. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein:

the probe request transmission circuit has a data reception status confirmation timer;

during a period when the incompliant terminal wireless device receives data from the base station wireless device, the data reception status confirmation timer is reset and stopped; and

when reception of the data from the base station wireless device is stopped, the data reception status confirmation timer measures a preset time.

4. The wireless device of claim 3, wherein the timer function of the data reception status confirmation timer is realized in the form of driver software.

5. The wireless device of claim 3, wherein the timer function of the data reception status confirmation timer is realized by hardware.

6. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein when the base station presence confirmation circuit receives no probe response from the base station wireless device, the base station presence confirmation circuit repeats the process of switching the channel and transmitting the probe request through the switched channel till the base station presence confirmation circuit receives the probe response.

7. The wireless device of claim 6, wherein the probe request transmission circuit switches the channel using a channel search algorithm such that a channel which is furthest from a channel including a base station wireless device of a different wireless network is searched by priority.