WLAN diagnostics using traffic stream metrics
First Claim
1. A wireless client operative to communicate with a wireless access point in a wireless network, the wireless client comprising:
- one or more processors;
a memory;
a network interface; and
a wireless network driver application, physically stored in the memory, comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the wireless client to;
monitor transmission of one or more frames between the wireless client and a wireless access point at a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer;
collect uplink metric data based on the transmission of the one or more frames the uplink metric data comprising one or more uplink latencies of the one or more frames;
construct an uplink latency histogram that comprises a count for each of a plurality of defined latency intervals using the one or more uplink latencies, comprising;
maintaining counts of respective numbers of the one or more uplink latencies that fall within each of the plurality of defined latency intervals;
generate a report message including the uplink latency histogram and at least some of the uplink metric data; and
transmit the report message to the wireless access point.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods, apparatuses and systems directed to facilitating WLAN diagnostics and management using traffic stream metrics. In a data collection stage, according to one implementation of the present invention, localized uplink measurements are taken at a wireless client associated with a wireless access point. During periodic intervals (e.g., every 5 seconds), the wireless client, in one implementation, transmits uplink measurement information to the wireless access point. The wireless access point may also take downlink measurements, which may also include one or more of the following metrics: observed latency, queuing delay, packet loss rate, and packet count information. The wireless access point, in one implementation, may aggregate and report the uplink and downlink metric information to a network management system. In a diagnostic stage, according to one implementation, a wireless network management module performs diagnostics of the WLAN based on the uplink and/or downlink metrics received from the wireless access-point.
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Citations
35 Claims
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1. A wireless client operative to communicate with a wireless access point in a wireless network, the wireless client comprising:
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one or more processors; a memory; a network interface; and a wireless network driver application, physically stored in the memory, comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the wireless client to; monitor transmission of one or more frames between the wireless client and a wireless access point at a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer; collect uplink metric data based on the transmission of the one or more frames the uplink metric data comprising one or more uplink latencies of the one or more frames; construct an uplink latency histogram that comprises a count for each of a plurality of defined latency intervals using the one or more uplink latencies, comprising; maintaining counts of respective numbers of the one or more uplink latencies that fall within each of the plurality of defined latency intervals; generate a report message including the uplink latency histogram and at least some of the uplink metric data; and transmit the report message to the wireless access point. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. In a wireless client operative to communicate with a wireless access point in a wireless network, a method comprising:
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monitoring transmission of one or more frames between the wireless client and a wireless access point at a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer; collecting uplink metric data based on the transmission of the one or more frames the uplink metric data comprising one or more uplink latencies of the one or more frames; constructing an uplink latency histogram that comprises a count for each of a plurality of defined latency intervals using the one or more uplink latencies, comprising; maintaining counts of respective numbers of the one or more uplink latencies that fall within each of the plurality of defined latency intervals; generating a report message including the uplink latency histogram and at least some of the uplink metric data; and transmitting the report message to the wireless access point. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A wireless client operative to communicate with a wireless access point in a wireless network, the wireless client comprising:
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means for monitoring transmission of one or more frames between the wireless client and a wireless access point at a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer; means for collecting uplink metric data based on the transmission of the one or more frames the uplink metric data comprising one or more uplink latencies of the one or more frames; means for constructing an uplink latency histogram that comprises a count for each of a plurality of defined latency intervals using the one or more uplink latencies, comprising; means for maintaining counts of respective numbers of the one or more uplink latencies that fall within each of the plurality of defined latency intervals; means for generating a report message including the uplink latency histogram and at least some of the uplink metric data; and means for transmitting the report message to the wireless access point.
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12. A wireless access point operative to wirelessly communicate with a wireless client and to communicate with a wireless network management server in a wireless network, the wireless access point comprising:
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one or more wireless network interfaces for communication with one or more wireless clients; one or more processors; a memory; a network interface; and a wireless access point application, physically stored in the memory, comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the wireless access point to; receive from the wireless client a plurality of reports, each of the plurality of reports comprising an uplink latency histogram and uplink metric data, wherein the uplink latency histogram comprises a plurality of counts corresponding to a plurality of latency intervals, wherein each of the plurality of counts indicates a number of uplink latencies that fall within one of the plurality of latency intervals; aggregate the uplink latency histograms and the uplink metric data in the plurality of reports; and transmit, from the wireless access point to the wireless network management server, a report comprising the aggregated uplink latency histogram and uplink metric data. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. In a wireless access point operative to wirelessly communicate with a wireless client and to communicate with a wireless network management server in a wireless network, a method comprising:
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receiving from the wireless client a plurality of report, each of the plurality of reports comprising an uplink latency histogram and uplink metric data, wherein the uplink latency histogram comprises a plurality of counts corresponding to a plurality of latency intervals, wherein each of the plurality of counts indicates a number of uplink latencies that fall within one of the plurality of latency intervals; aggregating the uplink latency histograms and the uplink metric data in the plurality of reports; and transmitting, from the wireless access point to the wireless network management server, a report comprising the aggregated uplink latency histogram and uplink metric data. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A wireless access point operative to wirelessly communicate with a wireless client and to communication with a wireless network management server in a wireless network, the wireless access point comprising:
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means for receiving from the wireless client a plurality of reports, each of the plurality of reports comprising an uplink latency histogram and uplink metric data, wherein the uplink latency histogram comprises a plurality of counts corresponding to a plurality of latency intervals, wherein each of the plurality of counts indicates a number of uplink latencies that fall within one of the plurality of latency intervals; means for aggregating the uplink latency histograms and the uplink metric data in the plurality of reports; and means for transmitting, from the wireless access point to the wireless network management server, a report comprising the aggregated uplink latency histogram and uplink metric data.
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21. A wireless network management server operative to communicate with a wireless access point in a wireless network, the wireless network management server comprising:
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one or more processors; a memory; a network interface; and a management application, physically stored in the memory, comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the wireless network management server to; receive a report message comprising an uplink latency histogram or a downlink histogram and at least one of uplink and downlink metric data generated by one or more nodes of a wireless network; analyze the report messages to determine at least one metric or fault associated with the wireless network, comprising compute jitter using the uplink latency histogram or the downlink histogram; and construct a fault flowchart for the wireless network based on the analysis, wherein for each of the at least one fault determined during the analysis to be associated with the wireless network, the fault flowchart indicates a type and a cause of the fault. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. In a wireless network management server operative to communicate with a wireless access point in a wireless network, a method comprising:
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receiving a report message comprising an uplink latency histogram or a downlink histogram and at least one of uplink and downlink metric data generated by one or more nodes of a wireless network; analyzing the report messages to determine at least one metric or fault associated with the wireless network, comprising computing jitter using the uplink latency histogram or the downlink histogram; and constructing a fault flowchart for the wireless network based on the analysis, wherein for each of the at least one fault determined during the analysis to be associated with the wireless network, the fault flowchart indicates a type and a cause of the fault. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A wireless network management server operative to communicate with a wireless access point in a wireless network, the wireless network management server comprising:
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means for receiving a report message comprising an uplink latency histogram or a downlink histogram and at least one of uplink and downlink metric data generated by one or more nodes of a wireless network; means for analyzing the report messages to determine at least one metric or fault, comprising means for computing jitter using the uplink latency histogram or the downlink histogram; and means for construct a fault flowchart for the wireless network based on the analysis, wherein for each of the at least one fault determined during the analysis to be associated with the wireless network, the fault flowchart indicates a type and a cause of the fault.
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Specification