Cooperative diagnosis in a wireless LAN

• US 7,925,765 B2
• Filed: 04/07/2006
• Issued: 04/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Padmanabhan, Venkata N., Chandra, Ranveer, Zhang, Ming
• Primary Examiner(s): Thomas; Joseph
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shepperd; Eric W
• Application Number:
  US11/400,103
• Publication Number:
  US 20070239876A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,831 Days
• Field of Search: 709/228, 709/227, 709/220, 709/221, 340/825.01, 340/825.02, 340/825.03, 340/825.04
• US Class Current: 709/228
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5014 using dynamic host configuration protocol [DHCP] or bootstrap protocol [BOOTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/04 Arrangements for maintaining operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

Communication software to aid portable computers monitor, and correct problems accessing a network through a wireless access point. The software controls the exchange of information with other portable computers in the vicinity of the wireless access point. The information exchanged may be used to diagnose problems at the wireless layer, the network layer, the transport layer or the application layer. The information exchanged may provide information about the configuration of computers that successfully or unsuccessfully communicate through the wireless access point. A portable computer receiving this configuration information may compare it to similar information about its own configuration to diagnose problems. Such software may be of particular benefit for portable computers experiencing difficulty connecting to a network at a wireless hot spot.

Claims

1. A computer for use as a host on a wireless LAN, the wireless LAN having at least one access point, and the computer being a first computer comprising:

a) at least one wireless communication interface;

b) a computer-readable device having computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising;

i) detecting a connectivity problem based on the first computer being unable to communicate over the wireless LAN through the at least one access point;

ii) in response to detecting that the first computer is unable to communicate over the wireless LAN through the at least one access point, automatically forming a request for diagnostic information and using the at least one wireless communication interface of the first computer unable to communicate over the wireless LAN to transmit the request for diagnostic information to at least one second computer acting as a host on the wireless LAN;

iii) receiving, by the first computer unable to communicate over the wireless LAN, diagnostic information from the at least one second computer acting as a host on the wireless LAN, wherein the diagnostic information is transmitted by the at least one second computer in response to the request transmitted by the first computer and is received by the first computer via the at least one wireless communication interface, and wherein the diagnostic information comprises a configuration setting of the at least one second computer and/or an operating condition of the at least one second computer; and

iv) diagnosing, by the first computer unable to communicate over the wireless LAN, the connectivity problem using the diagnostic information received from the at least one second computer via the at least one wireless communication interface.

2. The first computer of claim 1, wherein the computer-readable device has stored thereon a module comprising computer-executable instructions for implementing a network stack and the computer-executable instructions for performing the steps b(i)-(iii) are within the module.

3. The first computer of claim 1, additionally comprising a network interface card and wherein using the diagnostic information to diagnose the connectivity problem comprises indicating a problem with the network interface card when the first computer cannot detect the at least one access point and cannot exchange diagnostic information with any other computer acting as a host.

4. The first computer of claim 1, wherein using the diagnostic information to diagnose the connectivity problem comprises indicating that the first computer is out of range of the at least one access point when the first computer cannot detect the at least one access point and can receive diagnostic information with the at least one second computer acting as a host.

5. The first computer of claim 1, wherein using the diagnostic information to diagnose the connectivity problem comprises indicating that the first computer has a software problem when the first computer cannot detect the at least one access point but can receive diagnostic information from one or more other computers acting as hosts and the information received indicates that each of the one or more other computers has a different software version compared to the first computer.

6. The first computer of claim 1, wherein:

i) the at least one wireless communication interface comprises a first interface for wireless communication and a second interface for wireless communication; and

ii) the computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising detecting that the first computer is unable to communicate over the wireless LAN through the at least one access point comprise computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising attempting to use the first wireless communication interface to communicate over the wireless LAN through the at least one access point; and

iii) the computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising using the at least one wireless communication interface to receive diagnostic information from the at least one second computer acting as a host on the wireless LAN comprise computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising using the second wireless communication interface to receive diagnostic information from the at least one second computer acting as a host on the wireless LAN, in response to detecting that the first computer is unable to communicate over the wireless LAN through the at least one access point using the first wireless communication interface.

7. A method of operating a first computer adapted to be a host on wireless LAN, the wireless LAN having at least one access point, the method comprising:

a) attempting, by the first computer, to communicate over the wireless LAN through the at least one access point;

b) in response to detecting that the first computer is unable to communicate over the wireless LAN, automatically forming a request for diagnostic information and transmitting, by the first computer unable to communicate over the wireless LAN, the request for diagnostic information to at least one second computer adapted to be a host on the wireless LAN;

c) analyzing, by the first computer unable to communicate over the wireless LAN, diagnostic information received from the at least one second computer adapted to be a host on the wireless LAN to identify a condition preventing the first computer from communicating over the wireless LAN; and

d) taking, by the first computer unable to communicate over the wireless LAN, one or more corrective actions based at least in part on the condition identified in c).

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising transmitting a beacon signal to establish communication with the at least one second computer.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising selecting as the at least one second computer a computer that is also unable to communicate over the wireless LAN through the at least one access point.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the diagnostic information comprises information obtained by the at least one second computer from a third computer adapted to be a host on the wireless LAN.

11. The method of claim 7, additionally comprising receiving over a wireless link the diagnostic information from the at least one second computer.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the diagnostic information received from the at least one second computer comprises a single packet defining a communication status of the at least one second computer.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein taking one or more corrective actions comprises adjusting one or more communication settings and/or parameters.

14. A computer-readable storage device having computer-executable instructions for use on a first computer adapted to be a host on a wireless LAN, the wireless LAN having at least one wireless access point, the computer-executable instructions for performing steps comprising:

a) communicating, by the first computer, through the at least one wireless access point;

b) deriving status information about communication over the wireless LAN through the at least one wireless access point from information generated by communication hardware of the first computer and/or communication software of the first computer, wherein the status information comprises an average parameter value over a period of time based on parameter values generated by the communication hardware and/or software of the first computer and an identification of at least one authentication mechanism used by the first computer to associate with the at least one wireless access point; and

c) receiving a request for status information from at least one second computer adapted to be a host on the wireless LAN but is unable to communicate over the wireless LAN and transmitting the status information comprising the average parameter value and the identification of the at least one authentication mechanism over a wireless connection to the at least one second computer in response to the request for status information from the at least one second computer, the wireless connection not through the at least one wireless access point.

15. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the status information comprises an access code and the computer-executable instructions are for performing additional steps comprising:

d) obfuscating the access code before transmission to the at least one second computer.

16. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the computer-executable instructions are for performing additional steps comprising:

d) using a first interface to communicate over the wireless LAN through the at least one wireless access point.

17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 14, wherein the computer-executable instructions for performing the step of deriving status information comprise computer-executable instructions for:

i) obtaining information about the wireless layer of the wireless LAN, the information comprising;

the type of network interface card installed in the first computer, BSSID'"'"'s of access points from which the first computer has received a beacon, a representation of the loss rate of packets exchanged between the first computer and the at least one wireless access point, a security protocol used to communicate with the wireless network through the at least one wireless access point, and/or the length of an interface queue on the first computer.

18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 17, wherein the computer-executable instructions for performing the step of deriving status information comprise computer-executable instructions for:

i) obtaining information about the IP layer of the wireless LAN, the information comprising;

an IP Address of an interface to the at least one wireless access point, an IP address of a DHCP server from which the first computer obtained an IP address on the wireless LAN, and/or an IP address of a local DNS server on the wireless LAN.

19. The computer-readable storage device of claim 18, wherein the computer-executable instructions for performing the step of deriving status information comprise computer-executable instructions for:

i) obtaining information about the transport layer of the wireless LAN, the information comprising;

information indicative of the number of connections through the wireless LAN attempted by the first computer, the number of connections through the wireless LAN attempted by the first computer that failed, and/or server ports used by the first computer for successful connections through the wireless LAN.

20. The computer-readable storage device of claim 19, wherein the computer-executable instructions for performing the step of deriving status information comprise computer-executable instructions for:

i) obtaining information about the application layer of the wireless LAN, the information comprising at least one web proxy setting.