Method and system for providing multiple connections from a common wireless access point
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A wireless local area network (WLAN) access point comprising:
- a wireless communication interface for wirelessly communicating with terminals over an air interface;
at least one network interface for coupling with at least one communications network, wherein, after the access point is coupled via the at least one network interface with the at least one communications network, a plurality of connections extend from the access point over the at least one communications network, each connection extending to a respective remote endpoint;
connection-selection logic applicable by the access point to detect a wireless-network identifier that the access point receives from a given terminal via the wireless communication interface and, based on the wireless-network identifier, to select one of the connections over which to send at least one communication from the given terminal; and
traffic-filtering logic applicable by the access point (a) to determine whether the at least one communication from the given terminal is a particular type, (b) to allow transmission of the at least one communication over the selected connection if the at least one communication is the particular type and (c) to prevent transmission of the at least one communication over the connection if the at least one communication is not the particular type.
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Abstract
A method and system for providing connections from a wireless access point. The wireless access point has multiple connections to remote endpoints. The access point detects a wireless-network identifier (such as a service set identifier (SSID)) provided by a terminal via an air interface, and the access point uses the wireless-network identifier as a basis to select one of the connections over which to send traffic from the terminal.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A wireless local area network (WLAN) access point comprising:
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a wireless communication interface for wirelessly communicating with terminals over an air interface; at least one network interface for coupling with at least one communications network, wherein, after the access point is coupled via the at least one network interface with the at least one communications network, a plurality of connections extend from the access point over the at least one communications network, each connection extending to a respective remote endpoint; connection-selection logic applicable by the access point to detect a wireless-network identifier that the access point receives from a given terminal via the wireless communication interface and, based on the wireless-network identifier, to select one of the connections over which to send at least one communication from the given terminal; and traffic-filtering logic applicable by the access point (a) to determine whether the at least one communication from the given terminal is a particular type, (b) to allow transmission of the at least one communication over the selected connection if the at least one communication is the particular type and (c) to prevent transmission of the at least one communication over the connection if the at least one communication is not the particular type. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A voice access point having a housing and comprising within the housing:
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a processor; a wireless communication interface for wirelessly communicating with terminals over an air interface; a network interface for coupling with a communications network; virtual private network (VPN) client logic executable by the processor to establish plurality of VPN tunnels over the communications network, each VPN tunnel extending from the voice access point to a respective remotely located VPN terminator; connection-selection logic executable by the processor (i) to detect a first service set identifier (SSID) received from a first terminal over the air interface and, based on the first SSID, to select a first one of the VPN tunnels over which to send a first communication from the first terminal and (ii) to detect a second SSID received from a second terminal over the air interface and, based on the second SSID, to select a second one of the VPN tunnels over which to send the second communication, wherein the first SSID is different than the second SSID, and the first VPN tunnel is different than the second VPN tunnel; and traffic-filtering logic applicable by the access point (a) to determine whether the first communication from the first terminal is a particular type, (b) to allow transmission of the first communication over the selected first VPN tunnel if the first communication is the particular type and (c) to prevent transmission of the first communication over the selected first VPN tunnel if the first communication is not the particular type.
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21. A method comprising:
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establishing a plurality of connections from a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point, each connection extending over at least one communications network to a respective remote endpoint; wirelessly receiving into the access point a first wireless-network identifier from a first terminal via an air interface extending from the first terminal to the access point; within the access point, using the first wireless-network identifier as a basis to select a first one of the connections over which to send a communication from the first terminal; and within the access point, (a) determining whether the communication from the first terminal is a particular type, (b) sending the communication from the first terminal over the selected first connection if the first communication is the particular type and (c) preventing transmission of the communication from the first terminal over the selected first connection if the first communication is not the particular type. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method comprising:
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connecting to a local area network (LAN) a wireless access point that has a housing and that comprises within the housing (i) a wireless communication interface for wirelessly communicating with terminals over an air interface, (ii) at least one network interface for coupling the access point with at least one communications network, and (iii) a virtual private network (VPN) client application configured with a plurality of predefined sets of security settings; after the wireless access point is connected to the LAN, the wireless access point using the plurality of sets to establish a plurality of VPN tunnels via the LAN and a public packet network, wherein each VPN tunnel extends from the VPN client to a respective VPN terminator on a respective remote network, including a first VPN tunnel extending from the VPN client to a first VPN terminator on a first remote network; the wireless access point receiving a first wireless-network identifier from a first terminal via the air interface; the wireless access point using the first wireless-network identifier as a basis to select the first VPN tunnel from the plurality of VPN tunnels; the access point determining whether the communication from the first terminal is a particular type; the wireless access point routing the communication from the first terminal along the first VPN tunnel if the communication from the first terminal is the particular type; and the wireless access point preventing transmission of the communication from the first terminal along the first VPN tunnel if the first communication is not the particular type. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification