Hardware control interface for IEEE standard 802.11
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computer system, comprising:
- a processing unit comprising at least one processor;
a driver module that executes on the processing unit, the driver module comprising a hardware control interface that comprises a reception control interface component configured to receive reception control information from at least one network adapter to at least partially control the at least one network adapter to engage in communication in accordance with a wireless communication protocol using the hardware control interface, the hardware control interface is configured to exchange network adapter independent control information over at least one hardware data bus with network adapters of different types, wherein the reception control information comprises;
a first field comprising at least one flag, each of the at least one flag representing data reception-related information,a second field comprising information on amount of noise in a network over which the at least one network adapter communicates, anda third field comprising information indicating a channel on which at least one packet has been received by the at least one network adapter.
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Abstract
A standardized 802.11 hardware control interface may be provided such that a driver may communicate with any one or more of a variety of network adapters.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A computer system, comprising:
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a processing unit comprising at least one processor; a driver module that executes on the processing unit, the driver module comprising a hardware control interface that comprises a reception control interface component configured to receive reception control information from at least one network adapter to at least partially control the at least one network adapter to engage in communication in accordance with a wireless communication protocol using the hardware control interface, the hardware control interface is configured to exchange network adapter independent control information over at least one hardware data bus with network adapters of different types, wherein the reception control information comprises; a first field comprising at least one flag, each of the at least one flag representing data reception-related information, a second field comprising information on amount of noise in a network over which the at least one network adapter communicates, and a third field comprising information indicating a channel on which at least one packet has been received by the at least one network adapter. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. In a computer system comprising a driver module that at least partially controls a network adapter to engage in wireless communication in accordance with a wireless communication protocol, a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions, which, when executed, perform a method comprising an act of:
(A) exchanging, by the driver module, network adapter independent control information with the network adapter to at least partially control the network adapter, the network adapter independent control information being exchanged with the network adapter via a hardware control interface included in the driver module and comprising a reception control interface component configured to receive reception control information from the network adapter, the hardware control interface is configured to exchange network adapter independent control information over at least one hardware data bus with network adapters of different types, wherein the reception control information comprises; a first field comprising at least one flag, each of the at least one flag representing data reception-related information, a second field comprising information on amount of noise in a network over which the network adapter communicates, and a third field comprising information indicating a channel on which at least one packet has been received by the network adapter. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of developing a driver module comprising a hardware control interface, the method comprising acts of, with at least one processor:
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(A) analyzing the hardware control interface developed by a first developer entity that is different from a second developer entity which is developing the driver module, the hardware control interface comprising a reception control interface component configured to receive reception control information from a network adapter to at least partially control the network adapter, the hardware control interface having been developed such that at least two network adapters of different types, that each is configured to engage in communication in accordance with a wireless communication protocol, can exchange network adapter independent control information via the hardware control interface; and (B) designing the driver module to at least partially control one or more of the at least two network adapters over at least one hardware data bus via the hardware control interface to engage in communication in accordance with the wireless communication protocol, wherein the reception control information comprises; a first field comprising at least one flag, each of the at least one flag representing data reception-related information, a second field comprising information on amount of noise in a network over which the network adapter communicates, and a third field comprising information indicating a channel on which at least one packet has been received by the network adapter. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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Specification