Method for balancing the load of a wireless local area network
First Claim
1. A method for balancing the load of a wireless local area network, the wireless local area network comprising a plurality of access points forming a service set, the method comprising the steps of:
- sending a probe-request frame for association with said service set from a station to said plurality of access points;
selecting an access point with the lowest load;
sending a probe-response frame from the access point with the lowest load to the station; and
constructing an association between the station and the access point with the lowest load for balancing the load of said plurality of access points.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The method of the present invention selects an access point with the lowest load, which will reply to the probe-request packet sent by a station, and then constructs an association between the station and the access point with the lowest load so as to balance the load of the plurality of access points. To select the access point with the lowest load, a master access point sends a load collection packet, and the access points with the same service set identifier send a load index packet when receiving the load collection packet. Afterward each access point performs a load comparison procedure to select the access point with the lowest load. The access point with the lowest load will turn on the probe-response function, and the other access point will turn off the probe-response function.
13 Citations
9 Claims
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1. A method for balancing the load of a wireless local area network, the wireless local area network comprising a plurality of access points forming a service set, the method comprising the steps of:
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sending a probe-request frame for association with said service set from a station to said plurality of access points; selecting an access point with the lowest load; sending a probe-response frame from the access point with the lowest load to the station; and constructing an association between the station and the access point with the lowest load for balancing the load of said plurality of access points. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A wireless local area network system comprising:
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a plurality of access points forming a service set; and at least one station configured to send to said plurality of access points a probe-request frame for association with said service set, wherein the system is configured to select an access point with the lowest load and to send a probe-response from the access point wit the lowest load to said station and wherein the system is further configured to construct an association between the station and the access point with the lowest load.
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Specification