Configuring mobile station according to type of wireless local area network (WLAN) deployment

• US 8,699,379 B2
• Filed: 04/08/2011
• Issued: 04/15/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Kholaif, Ahmad Mohammad Mohammad, Mendahawi, Nayef Fawaz, Barbu, Ion, Bakthavathsalu, Krishna Kumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Sheikh, Ayaz
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wong, Blanche
• Application Number:
  US13/082,662
• Publication Number:
  US 20120257536A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,103 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/20 Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

A target access point is selected from the results of a discovery scan so that a mobile station can attempt a connection with the target access point. The mobile station determines whether the target access point belongs to a small office/home office (SOHO)-type wireless local area network (WLAN) deployment or to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment. The mobile station then configures itself according to the determination of the type of WLAN deployment to which the target access point belongs.

Claims

1. A method in a mobile station, the method comprising:

determining whether an access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type wireless local area network (WLAN) deployment or to a small office/home office (SOHO)-type WLAN deployment, the access point having been selected by the mobile station from results of a discovery scan for a connection attempt;

responsive to determining that the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment, configuring the mobile station in a first configuration;

responsive to determining that the access point belongs to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment, configuring the mobile station in a second configuration that differs from the first configuration; and

as part of a dynamic Internet Protocol (IP) address acquisition process, receiving from a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server an offer message including an offered IP address,

wherein determining whether the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment or to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment comprises;

determining that the access point belongs to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment where a source media access control (MAC) address in the offer message is identical to a MAC address of the access point, which is discernible from the results of the discovery scan; and

determining that the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment where the source MAC address in the offer message is not identical to the MAC address of the access point.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein determining whether the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment or to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment comprises:

determining that the access point belongs to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment where a security type of the access point, discernible from the results of the discovery scan, indicates no security.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein determining whether the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment or to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment comprises:

determining that the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment where a management frame from the access points in the result of the discovery scan indicates that the access point is enabled for Cisco Compatible Extensions (CCX).

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein determining whether the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment or to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment comprises:

determining that the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment where a beacon frame or probe response or association response or reassociation response from the access point in the results of the discovery scan indicates that the access point supports Neighbor Reports.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein determining whether the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment or to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment comprises:

determining that the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment where a beacon frame or probe response from the access point in the results of the discovery scan indicates that the access point supports Wi-Fi Protected Access pre-authentication.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein determining whether the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment or to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment comprises:

determining that the access point belongs to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment where a connection profile stored in the mobile station that matches the access point includes an indication that the profile is for SOHO-type WLAN deployment; and

determining that the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment where the connection profile includes an indication that the profile is for corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

as part of a dynamic Internet Protocol (IP) address acquisition process, receiving from a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server an offer message including an offered IP address,

wherein determining whether the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment or to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment comprises;

determining that the access point belongs to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment where the offered IP address is of the form 192.168.X.X; and

determining that the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment where the offered IP address is not of the form 192.168.X.X.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein configuring the mobile station in the first configuration comprises:

enabling roaming scans.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein configuring the mobile station in the second configuration comprises:

disabling roaming scans.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein configuring the mobile station in the first configuration comprises:

configuring the mobile station to react to receipt of a decryption error message from the access point or to failure of an attempt to connect to the access point by banning an editable connection profile stored in the mobile station that matches the access point, the editable connection profile including a network name.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein configuring the mobile station in the second configuration comprises:

configuring the mobile station to react to receipt of a decryption error message from the access point or to failure of an attempt to connect to the access point by banning the access point.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein configuring the mobile station in the first configuration comprises enabling roaming scans.

13. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein configuring the mobile station in the second configuration comprises disabling roaming scans.

14. A method in a mobile station, the method comprising:

determining whether an access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type wireless local area network (WLAN) deployment or to a small office/home office (SOHO)-type WLAN deployment, the access point having been selected by the mobile station from results of a discovery scan for a connection attempt;

responsive to determining that the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment, configuring the mobile station in a first configuration; and

responsive to determining that the access point belongs to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment, configuring the mobile station in a second configuration that differs from the first configuration,

wherein more than one access point is identifiable from the results of the discovery scan, and wherein determining whether the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment or to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment comprises;

determining that the access point belongs to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment where none of the other access points identified from the results of the discovery scan have exactly the same characteristics—

other than media access control (MAC) address—

as the access point; and

determining that the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment where at least one of the other access points identified from the results of the discovery scan has exactly the same characteristics—

other than MAC address—

as the access point.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein configuring the mobile station in the first configuration comprises enabling roaming scans.

16. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein configuring the mobile station in the second configuration comprises disabling roaming scans.

17. A method in a mobile station, the method comprising:

determining whether an access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type wireless local area network (WLAN) deployment or to a small office/home office (SOHO)-type WLAN deployment, the access point having been selected by the mobile station from results of a discovery scan for a connection attempt;

responsive to determining that the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment, configuring the mobile station in a first configuration, wherein configuring the mobile station in the first configuration comprises configuring the mobile station to react to receipt of a decryption error message from the access point or to failure of an attempt to connect to the access point by banning an editable connection profile stored in the mobile station that matches the access point, the editable connection profile including a network name; and

responsive to determining that the access point belongs to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment, configuring the mobile station in a second configuration that differs from the first configuration;

attempting to connect to the access point, including transmitting in a manner receivable by the access point parameters from the editable connection profile;

determining that the attempt has failed or receiving the decryption error message from the access point and consequently banning the editable connection profile;

if any active scanning for wireless local area networks—

other than active scanning performed as part of any discovery scan—

is performed by the mobile station while the editable connection profile is banned, excluding the editable connection profile from the active scanning; and

if any passive scanning for wireless local area networks—

other than passive scanning performed as part of any discovery scan—

is performed by the mobile station while the editable connection profile is banned, removing from results of the passive scanning any records including the network name.

18. A method in a mobile station, the method comprising:

determining whether an access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type wireless local area network (WLAN) deployment or to a small office/home office (SOHO)-type WLAN deployment, the access point having been selected by the mobile station from results of a discovery scan for a connection attempt;

responsive to determining that the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment, configuring the mobile station in a first configuration; and

responsive to determining that the access point belongs to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment, configuring the mobile station in a second configuration that differs from the first configuration,

wherein configuring the mobile station in the first configuration comprises configuring the mobile station to react to receipt of a decryption error message from the access point or to failure of an attempt to connect to the access point by reducing a priority of a connection profile stored in the mobile station that matches the access point.

19. A method in a mobile station, the method comprising:

determining whether an access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type wireless local area network (WLAN) deployment or to a small office/home office (SOHO)-type WLAN deployment, the access point having been selected by the mobile station from results of a discovery scan for a connection attempt;

responsive to determining that the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment, configuring the mobile station in a first configuration;

responsive to determining that the access point belongs to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment, configuring the mobile station in a second configuration that differs from the first configuration, wherein configuring the mobile station in the second configuration comprises configuring the mobile station to react to receipt of a decryption error message from the access point or to failure of an attempt to connect to the access point by banning the access point;

attempting to connect to the access point;

determining that the attempt has failed or receiving the decryption error message from the access point and consequently banning the access point; and

refraining from transmitting any communications addressed to a unique identifier of the access point while the access point is banned.

20. A method in a mobile station, the method comprising:

determining whether an access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type wireless local area network (WLAN) deployment or to a small office/home office (SOHO)-type WLAN deployment, the access point having been selected by the mobile station from results of a discovery scan for a connection attempt;

responsive to determining that the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment, configuring the mobile station in a first configuration; and

responsive to determining that the access point belongs to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment, configuring the mobile station in a second configuration that differs from the first configuration,

wherein configuring the mobile station in the second configuration comprises configuring the mobile station to react to receipt of a decryption error message from the access point or to failure of an attempt to connect to the access point by suppressing the access point.

21. The method as claimed in claim 20, further comprising:

attempting to connect to the access point;

determining that the attempt has failed or receiving the decryption error message from the access point and consequently suppressing the access point;

on some occasions that the access point is suppressed, refraining from transmitting any communications addressed to the unique identifier; and

on other occasions that the access point is suppressed, permitting transmission of communications addressed to the unique identifier.

22. A mobile station comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor; and

a wireless local area network (WLAN) communication interface coupled to the processor,

the mobile station operative to determine whether an access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type wireless local area network (WLAN) deployment or to a small office/home office (SOHO)-type WLAN deployment, the access point having been selected by the mobile station from results of a discovery scan for a connection attempt,

the mobile station further operative to configure the mobile station in a first configuration responsive to the mobile station determining that the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment, and

the mobile station further operative to configure the mobile station in a second configuration that differs from the first configuration responsive to the mobile station determining that the access point belongs to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment,

the mobile station further operative, as part of a dynamic Internet Protocol (IP) address acquisition process, to receive from a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server an offer message including an offered IP address,

wherein the mobile station is operative to determine whether the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment or to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment by;

determining that the access point belongs to a SOHO-type WLAN deployment where a source media access control (MAC) address in the offer message is identical to a MAC address of the access point, discernible from the results of the discovery scan; and

determining that the access point belongs to a corporate/enterprise-type WLAN deployment where the source MAC address in the offer message is not identical to the MAC address of the access point.