Pinning and cascading avoidance in dynamic channel assignment for wireless LANS
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- at a controller device configured to communicate with a plurality of wireless network access point devices operating on at least one of a plurality of channels in a wireless network, receiving from the access point devices wireless activity data representing activity in each of the channels;
generating at least one metric derived from the wireless activity data corresponding to one or more physical metrics measured by the access point devices representing activity in each of the channels associated with signals of devices operating in the wireless network and associated with signals and energy from devices that are not operating in the wireless network, wherein the at least one metric is a mathematical conversion of the one or more physical metrics;
during a channel plan evaluation session, evaluating the at least one metric for multiple ones of the access point devices to determine whether a channel on which at least one access point device operates should be changed such that a decision to change the channel on which the at least one access point device operates is limited to a localized region of the wireless network and does not affect a channel change decision for access points outside of the localized region of the wireless network; and
changing the channel on which the at least one access point device operates based on said evaluating.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques are provided to determine channel assignments for wireless access point (AP) devices in a wireless local area network (WLAN). From each of a plurality of AP devices operating at least one of a plurality of channels in the WLAN, wireless activity data is received that represents activity in each channel associated with signals of devices operating in the WLAN and associated with signals and energy from devices that are not operating in the WLAN as detected by the AP devices by receiving radio frequency energy in each of the plurality of channels. During a channel plan evaluation session, the wireless activity data is evaluated for multiple ones of the plurality of access point devices to determine whether the channel on which an access point device operates should be changed such that a decision to change the channel for at least one access point is limited to a localized region of the wireless network and does not necessarily affect a channel change decision for access points outside of the localized region of the wireless network. The channel on which the at least one access point device operates is changed or assigned based on the evaluation. In one form, the wireless activity data is a single metric that is derived from multiple pieces of data, each representing a different component of wireless activity determined by an AP device to be occurring in a channel.
38 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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at a controller device configured to communicate with a plurality of wireless network access point devices operating on at least one of a plurality of channels in a wireless network, receiving from the access point devices wireless activity data representing activity in each of the channels; generating at least one metric derived from the wireless activity data corresponding to one or more physical metrics measured by the access point devices representing activity in each of the channels associated with signals of devices operating in the wireless network and associated with signals and energy from devices that are not operating in the wireless network, wherein the at least one metric is a mathematical conversion of the one or more physical metrics; during a channel plan evaluation session, evaluating the at least one metric for multiple ones of the access point devices to determine whether a channel on which at least one access point device operates should be changed such that a decision to change the channel on which the at least one access point device operates is limited to a localized region of the wireless network and does not affect a channel change decision for access points outside of the localized region of the wireless network; and changing the channel on which the at least one access point device operates based on said evaluating. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A system comprising:
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a plurality of wireless network access point devices each configured to operate on at least one of a plurality of channels in a wireless network, wherein each access point is configured to receive radio frequency energy in each of the plurality of channels to measure physical metrics of the channels from the radio frequency energy; a controller apparatus configured to; receive wireless activity data from each of the wireless access point devices; generate at least one metric derived from the physical metrics representing activity in each of the channels associated with signals of devices operating in the wireless network and associated with signals and energy from devices that are not operating in the wireless network, wherein the at least one metric is a mathematical conversion of the one or more physical metrics; communicate with the access point devices and to supply control signals that control which channel each of the wireless network access point devices uses for operating in the wireless network; evaluate during a channel plan evaluation session the at least one metric for multiple ones of the access point devices to determine whether a channel on which at least one access point device operates should be changed such that a decision to change the channel on which the at least one access point device operates is limited to a localized region of the wireless network and does not affect a channel change decision for access points outside of the localized region of the wireless network; and change the channel on which the at least one access point device operates based on evaluation of the metric for multiple ones of the plurality of access point devices. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. One or more tangible non-transitory computer readable storage media storing instructions for execution by a processor and when executed operable to:
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receive from each of a plurality of wireless access point devices operating on at least one of a plurality of channels in a wireless network, wireless activity data representing activity in each of the channels; generate at least one metric derived from the wireless activity data corresponding to one or more physical metrics measured by the access point devices representing activity in each of the channels associated with signals of devices operating in the wireless network and associated with signals and energy from devices that are not operating in the wireless network, wherein the at least one metric is a mathematical conversion of the one or more physical metrics; during a channel plan evaluation session, evaluate the wireless activity data for multiple ones of the access point devices to determine whether a channel on which at least one access point device operates should be changed such that a decision to change the channel on which the at least one access point device operates is limited to a localized region of the wireless network and does not affect a channel change decision for access points outside of the localized region of the wireless network; and change the channel on which the at least one access point device operates based on the evaluation. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21)
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Specification