Wireless ad-hoc network configuration method and apparatus

• US 8,582,471 B2
• Filed: 03/11/2009
• Issued: 11/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Yun, Suk-Jin, Kwon, Chang-Yeul, Lee, Seong-Wook, Yang, Chil-Youl, Cho, Kyung-Ik
• Primary Examiner(s): Chung, Hoon J
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wang, Yaotang
• Application Number:
  US12/922,579
• Publication Number:
  US 20110044208A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,707 Days
• Field of Search: 370/254, 713/168, 713/171, 726 3- 7, 709/228
• US Class Current: 370/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/065 for group communications cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key management involving conference or group key H04L9/0833
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/162 at the data link layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1073 Registration or de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1094 Inter-user-equipment sessions transfer or sharing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/50 Secure pairing of devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/24 Transfer of terminal data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/20 Master-slave selection or change arrangements

Abstract

A method and apparatus for setting up a wireless ad-hoc network, the method including: interchanging, at a terminal, a terminal identifier and Wi-Fi protected setup (WPS) capability information with another terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network; selecting, at the terminal, a role of the terminal as a registrar or an enrollee based on the interchanged terminal identifier and the interchanged WPS capability information of the wireless ad-hoc network; and optionally registering in the registrar based on the selected role.

Claims

1. A method of setting up a wireless ad-hoc network, the method comprising:

interchanging, at a terminal, a terminal identifier and Wi-Fi protected setup (WPS) capability information with another terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network;

selecting, at the terminal, a role of the terminal as a registrar or an enrollee based on the interchanged terminal identifier and the interchanged WPS capability information of the wireless ad-hoc network; and

optionally registering in the registrar based on the selected role,

wherein the interchanged WPS capability information of the terminal comprises an information field for informing the other terminal of all WPS roles that the terminal is capable of serving as the registrar or the enrollee, and

wherein when the terminal is capable of serving as either of the registrar and the enrollee, the information field of the WPS capability information of the terminal indicates that the terminal is capable of serving as the registrar and capable of serving as the enrollee.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the interchanging the terminal identifier and the Wi-Fi protected setup (WPS) capability information with the other terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network comprises:

transmitting a first search frame comprising the terminal identifier and the WPS capability information of the terminal to the other terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network; and

receiving a second search frame comprising the terminal identifier and the WPS capability information of the other terminal from the other terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first and second search frames are probe request frames.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal identifier is a media access control (MAC) address of the terminal.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the WPS capability information comprises at least one of identification information regarding only serving as the registrar from among roles of the registrar and the enrollee, identification information regarding only serving as the enrollee from among roles of the registrar and the enrollee, and identification information regarding serving as both the registrar and the enrollee.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising generating a role selection table comprising the terminal identifier and the WPS capability information of the terminal and the other terminal, which are interchanged with the other terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein when the WPS capability information of the terminal comprises the identification information regarding only serving as the enrollee, the selecting the role as the registrar or the enrollee comprises selecting the terminal to have the role of the enrollee.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein when the WPS capability information of the terminal comprises the identification information regarding only serving as the registrar, the selecting the role as the registrar or the enrollee comprises:

searching the role selection table to determine whether the WPS capability information of the other terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network comprises identification information regarding only serving as a registrar;

as a result of the searching, when the WPS capability information of the other terminal comprises identification information regarding only serving as the registrar, comparing the terminal identifiers of the terminal and the other terminal with each other in the role selection table based on a predetermined determination criterion; and

optionally selecting the terminal to have the role of the registrar based on the comparing.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein, as a result of the searching, when there are no other terminals of the wireless ad-hoc network comprising WPS capability information comprising identification information regarding only serving as a registrar, the selecting the role as the registrar or the enrollee further comprises selecting the terminal to have the role of the registrar.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein when the WPS capability information of the terminal comprises the identification information regarding serving as both the registrar and the enrollee, the selecting the role as the registrar or the enrollee comprises:

comparing the terminal identifiers of the terminal and the other terminal with each other in the role selection table based on a predetermined determination criterion; and

optionally selecting the terminal to have the role of the registrar based on the comparing.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein:

the comparing the terminal identifiers based on the predetermined determination criterion comprises aligning terminal identifiers of terminals of the wireless ad-hoc network in an ascending or descending order and determining whether the terminal identifier of the terminal has a highest priority from the aligned terminal identifiers; and

the optionally selecting the terminal to have the role of the registrar comprises, as a result of the determining, when the terminal identifier of the terminal has the highest priority, selecting the terminal to have the role of the registrar and when the terminal identifier of the terminal does not have the highest priority, selecting the terminal to have the role of the enrollee.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the optionally registering in the registrar based on the selected role comprises:

when the terminal is selected to have the role of the enrollee, receiving a credential from the other terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network selected as a registrar by using an extensible authentication protocol (EAP); and

when the terminal is selected to have the role of the registrar, transmitting a credential to the other terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network selected as an enrollee by using the EAP.

25. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the method of claim 1.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting the role as the registrar or the enrollee comprises selecting, at the other terminal, a role of the other terminal as a registrar or an enrollee based on the interchanged terminal identifier and the interchanged WPS capability information of the wireless ad-hoc network.

27. The method of claim 10, wherein:

the comparing the terminal identifiers based on the predetermined determination criterion comprises aligning terminal identifiers of terminals of the wireless ad-hoc network in an ascending or descending order and determining whether the terminal identifier of the terminal has a highest priority from the aligned terminal identifiers; and

the optionally selecting the terminal to have the role of the registrar comprises, as a result of the determining, when the terminal identifier of the terminal has the highest priority, selecting the terminal to have the role of the registrar and when the terminal identifier of the terminal does not have the highest priority, selecting the terminal to have the role of the enrollee.

13. An apparatus of a terminal for setting up a wireless ad-hoc network, the apparatus comprising:

an interchange unit which interchanges a terminal identifier and Wi-Fi protected setup (WPS) capability information with another terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network;

a selection unit which selects a role of the terminal as a registrar or an enrollee based on the interchanged terminal identifier and the interchanged WPS capability information of the wireless ad-hoc network; and

a registration unit which optionally registers in the registrar based on the selected role,

wherein the interchanged WPS capability information of the terminal comprises an information field for informing the other terminal of all WPS roles that the terminal is capable of serving as the registrar or the enrollee, and

wherein when the terminal is capable of serving as either of the registrar and the enrollee, the information field of the WPS capability information of the terminal indicates that the terminal is capable of serving as the registrar and capable of serving as the enrollee.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the interchange unit comprises:

a search frame transmission unit which transmits a first search frame comprising the terminal identifier and the WPS capability information of the terminal to the other terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network; and

a search frame receiving unit which receives a second search frame comprising the terminal identifier and the WPS capability information from the other terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the first and second search frames are probe request frames.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the terminal identifier is a media access control (MAC) address of the terminal.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the WPS capability information comprises at least one of identification information regarding only serving as the registrar from among roles of the registrar and the enrollee, identification information regarding only serving as the enrollee from among roles of the registrar and the enrollee, and identification information regarding serving as both the registrar and the enrollee.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising a table generation unit which generates a role selection table comprising the terminal identifier and the WPS capability information of the terminal and the other terminal, which are interchanged with the other terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein when the WPS capability information of the terminal comprises the identification information regarding only serving as the enrollee, the selection unit selects the terminal to have the role of the enrollee.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein when the WPS capability information of the terminal comprises the identification information regarding only serving as the registrar, the selection unit comprises:

a capability search unit which searches the role selection table to determine whether the WPS capability information of the other terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network comprises identification information regarding only serving as a registrar; and

a comparison unit which, as a result of the searching, when the WPS capability information of the other table comprises identification information regarding only serving as the registrar, compares the terminal identifiers of the terminal and the other terminal with each other in the role selection table based on a predetermined determination criterion, and

the selection unit optionally selects the terminal to have the role of the registrar based on the comparing.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein, as a result of the searching, when there are no other terminals of the ad-hoc network comprising WPS capability information comprising identification information regarding only serving as a registrar, the selection unit selects the terminal to have the role of the registrar.

22. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein, when the WPS capability information of the terminal comprises the identification information regarding serving as both the registrar and the enrollee, the selection unit comprises:

a comparison unit which compares the terminal identifiers of the terminal and the other terminal with each other in the role selection table based on a predetermined determination criterion, and

the selection unit optionally selects the terminal to have the role of the registrar based on the comparing.

23. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein:

the comparison unit aligns terminal identifiers of terminals of the wireless ad-hoc network in an ascending or descending order and determines whether the terminal identifier of the terminal has a highest priority from the aligned terminal identifiers; and

the selection unit, as a result of the determining, when the terminal identifier of the terminal has the highest priority, selects the terminal to have the role of the registrar and when the terminal identifier of the terminal does not have the highest priority, selects the terminal to have the role of the enrollee.

24. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein:

when the terminal is selected to have the role of the enrollee, the registration unit receives a credential from the other terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network selected as a registrar by using an extensible authentication protocol (EAP); and

when the terminal is selected to have the role of the registrar, the registration unit transmits a credential to the other terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network selected as an enrollee by using the EAP.

28. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein:

the comparison unit aligns terminal identifiers of terminals of the wireless ad-hoc network in an ascending or descending order and determines whether the terminal identifier of the terminal has a highest priority from the aligned terminal identifiers; and

the selection unit, as a result of the determining, when the terminal identifier of the terminal has the highest priority, selects the terminal to have the role of the registrar and when the terminal identifier of the terminal does not have the highest priority, selects the terminal to have the role of the enrollee.

29. A method of setting up a wireless ad-hoc network, the method comprising:

interchanging, at a terminal, Wi-Fi protected setup (WPS) capability information with another terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network; and

selecting, at the terminal, a role of the terminal as a registrar or an enrollee based on the interchanged WPS capability information of the wireless ad-hoc network,

wherein the interchanged WPS capability information of the terminal comprises an information field for informing the other terminal of all WPS roles that the terminal is capable of serving as the registrar or the enrollee, and

wherein when the terminal is capable of serving as either of the registrar and the enrollee, the information field of the WPS capability information of the terminal indicates that the terminal is capable of serving as the registrar and capable of serving as the enrollee.

30. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing the method of claim 29.

31. A system for setting up a wireless ad-hoc network, the system comprising:

a first terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network, the first terminal comprising;

an interchange unit which interchanges Wi-Fi protected setup (WPS) capability information with a second terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network, and

a selection unit which selects a role of the first terminal as a registrar based on the interchanged WPS capability information of the wireless ad-hoc network; and

the second terminal comprising;

an interchange unit which interchanges the Wi-Fi protected setup (WPS) capability information with the first terminal of the wireless ad-hoc network, and

a selection unit which selects a role of the second terminal as an enrollee based on the interchanged WPS capability information of the wireless ad-hoc network,

wherein the interchanged WPS capability information of the first terminal comprises an information field for informing the second terminal of all WPS roles that the first terminal is capable of serving as the registrar or the enrollee, and the interchanged WPS capability information of the second terminal comprises an information field for informing the first terminal of all WPS roles that the second terminal is capable of serving as the registrar or the enrollee, and

wherein when a terminal is capable of serving as either of the registrar and the enrollee, the information field of the WPS capability information of the terminal indicates that the terminal is capable of serving as the registrar and capable of serving as the enrollee.