Light-weight access point protocol
First Claim
1. In a wireless network system comprising at least one access element for communication with at least one remote client element, and at least one central control element for controlling and managing wireless connections between access elements and remote client elements, a method facilitating the initialization and configuration of an access element, comprisingtransmitting from an access element one or more discovery messages to discover one or more central control elements, wherein the one or more central control elements each provide a central control element identifier and a load parameter identifying the number of access elements associated with the corresponding central control element;
- selecting, at the access element, a central control element from the discovered central control elements, wherein the selected central control element reporting the lowest load parameter;
exchanging validating information between the access element and the selected central control element, wherein exchanging validating information comprisestransmitting a first joint request having a first byte size to the selected central control element;
if a join response to the first join request is not received, transmitting a second join request having a second byte size, wherein the second byte size is less than the first byte size; and
exchanging configuration information between the access element and the validated central control element.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods, apparatuses and systems facilitating deployment and configuration of managed access points in wireless network systems. An embodiment of the present invention is a light-weight management protocol that reduces the management footprint of a plurality of managed access points in a wireless network system. An embodiment of the invention facilitates deployment and configuration of conventional, substantially autonomous access points operating in connection with a central management node, such as a server or appliance. In another embodiment, the present invention facilitates deployment and configuration of access points in a wireless network system including hierarchical processing of protocol information.
56 Citations
16 Claims
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1. In a wireless network system comprising at least one access element for communication with at least one remote client element, and at least one central control element for controlling and managing wireless connections between access elements and remote client elements, a method facilitating the initialization and configuration of an access element, comprising
transmitting from an access element one or more discovery messages to discover one or more central control elements, wherein the one or more central control elements each provide a central control element identifier and a load parameter identifying the number of access elements associated with the corresponding central control element; -
selecting, at the access element, a central control element from the discovered central control elements, wherein the selected central control element reporting the lowest load parameter; exchanging validating information between the access element and the selected central control element, wherein exchanging validating information comprises transmitting a first joint request having a first byte size to the selected central control element; if a join response to the first join request is not received, transmitting a second join request having a second byte size, wherein the second byte size is less than the first byte size; and exchanging configuration information between the access element and the validated central control element. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A wireless network system, comprising
a plurality of access elements for wireless communication with at least one remote client element and for communication with a central control element; -
a plurality of central control elements for supervising the access elements, wherein the central control elements are each operative to manage wireless connections between the access elements and corresponding remote client elements, exchange validating information with access elements, and exchange configuration information with validated access elements; wherein the access elements are each operative to discover one or more central control elements, wherein the one or more central control elements each provide a central control element identifier and a load parameter identifying the number of access elements associated with the corresponding central control element, select a central control element from the discovered central control elements wherein the selected central control element reporting the lowest load parameter, exchange validating information with the selected central control element by transmitting a first joint request having a first byte size to the selected central control element;
if a join response to the first join request is not received, transmitting a second join request having a second byte size, wherein the second byte size is less than the first byte size; and
validating a join response received from the selected control element,exchange configuration information with the validated central control element, and establish and maintain, in connection with the validated central control element, wireless connections with remote client elements. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
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16. A method comprising
transmitting from an access element one or more discovery messages to discover one or more central control elements; -
selecting, at the access element, a central control element from the discovered central control elements; transmitting a first joint request having a first byte size to the selected central control element; if a join response to the first join request is not received, transmitting a second join request having a second byte size, wherein the second byte size is less than the first byte size; and validating a join response transmitted from the selected central control element; and exchanging configuration information between the access element and the validated central control element.
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Specification