Minimizing coverage holes in a communication network

• US 9,401,874 B2
• Filed: 08/14/2013
• Issued: 07/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2013
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Sun, Yanjun, Tinnakornsrisuphap, Peerapol, Ho, Sai Yiu Duncan, Mohanty, Bibhu Prasad
• Primary Examiner(s): Won, Michael Y
• Application Number:
  US13/966,901
• Publication Number:
  US 20150052255A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,077 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/220, 709/223, 709/227, 455/436, 455/451
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/253 using establishment or release of connections between ports
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/06 Testing, supervising or monitoring using simulated traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/18 Management of setup rejection or failure
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

Access point functionality of a network device may be disabled, resulting in a coverage hole in a communication network and affecting performance of a client device. Various techniques can be implemented for detecting and minimizing coverage holes. In one embodiment, the network device can selectively establish a communication link with the client device depending on whether the client device is in a coverage hole and depending on whether the client device can detect another access point in the communication network. In some embodiments, the client device can determine that it is in a coverage hole in response to detecting a reserved SSID and can accordingly notify a central coordinator of the communication network. In some embodiments, the central coordinator can identify the network device (with disabled access point functionality) that can eliminate the coverage hole and can cause the network device to enable its access point functionality.

Claims

1. A method for network communication, the method comprising:

receiving a first message at a client device from a first network device of a communication network;

determining, by the client device, that the first message includes a reserved network identifier indicating that the first network device is configured in a temporary access point configuration;

determining, by the client device, whether a non-reserved network identifier is received at the client device from a second network device of the communication network, in response to determining that the first message includes the reserved network identifier; and

determining that the client device is in a coverage hole, in response to determining that the non-reserved network identifier is not received at the client device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

establishing a communication link between the client device and the second network device, in response to determining that the non-reserved network identifier is received at the client device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

establishing a first communication link between the client device and the first network device using the reserved network identifier after determining that the client device is in a coverage hole; and

transmitting a notification from the client device to the first network device to indicate that the client device is in a coverage hole and to cause the first network device to change from the first temporary access point configuration to an access point configuration.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving the non-reserved network identifier after the first network device changes from the temporary access point configuration to the access point configuration; and

establishing a second communication link between the client device and the first network device using the non-reserved network identifier.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the reserved network identifier is a reserved service set identifier (SSID) and the non-reserved network identifier is a non-reserved SSID.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the first network device provides the reserved network identifier to the client device when in the temporary access point configuration and provides the non-reserved network identifier to the client device when in the access point configuration.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting, from the client device, a notification to a coordinating device of the communication network to indicate that the client device is in a coverage hole, the coordinating device causing the first network device to change from the temporary access point configuration to an access point configuration; and

receiving, at the client device, the non-reserved network identifier from the first network device in response to the first network device changing to the access point configuration.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

establishing a communication link between the client device and the first network device using the non-reserved network identifier.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the notification includes coverage hole information, further comprising:

determining, at the client device, the coverage hole information including a location of the client device.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the location of the client device is determined based on a device identifier of the first network device.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein said transmitting the notification to the coordinating device comprises:

transmitting the notification from the client device to the coordinating device via an out-of-band communication protocol.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the communication network is a wireless local area network (WLAN), and wherein transmitting the notification from the client device to the coordinating device via the out-of-band communication protocol comprises transmitting the notification via at least one member of the group consisting of a powerline communication (PLC) network and a cellular network.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network device is configured to temporarily change from a client device configuration to the temporary access point configuration to transmit the reserved network identifier, and change from the temporary access point configuration back to the client device configuration after transmitting the reserved network identifier.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

requesting user input indicating whether to transmit a notification to a coordinating device of the communication network indicating that the client device is in a coverage hole.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a second message including the non-reserved network identifier is received at the client device from the second network device;

determining, at the client device, a performance measurement associated with the second message; and

determining whether to establish a communication link between the client device and the second network device based, at least in part, on the performance measurement associated with the second message.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the reserved network identifier indicating that the first network device is configured in the temporary access point configuration further indicates that the first network device will not establish a communication link with the client device unless the client device is in a coverage hole.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the first message is a beacon message or a probe response message.

18. A first network device comprising:

a processor; and

a coverage hole detection unit coupled with the processor, the coverage hole detection unit configured to;

receive a first message from a second network device of a communication network;

determine that the first message includes a reserved network identifier indicating that the second network device is configured in a temporary access point configuration;

determine whether a non-reserved network identifier is received from a third network device of the communication network, in response to determining that the first message includes the reserved network identifier; and

determine that the first network device is in a coverage hole, in response to determining that the non-reserved network identifier is not received at the first network device.

19. The first network device of claim 18, wherein the coverage hole detection unit is further configured to:

transmit a notification from the first network device to a coordinating device of the communication network to indicate that the first network device is in a coverage hole, the coordinating device causing the second network device to change from the temporary access point configuration to an access point configuration; and

receive the non-reserved network identifier from the second network device in response to the second network device changing to the access point configuration.

20. The first network device of claim 19, wherein the coverage hole detection unit is further configured to:

establish a communication link between the first network device and the second network device using the non-reserved network identifier.

21. The first network device of claim 18, wherein the coverage hole detection unit is further configured to:

establish a communication link between the first network device and the third network device, in response to determining that the non-reserved network identifier is received at the first network device.

22. The first network device of claim 18, wherein the coverage hole detection unit is further configured to:

establish a first communication link between the first network device and the second network device using the reserved network identifier after determining that the first network device is in a coverage hole; and

transmit a notification from the first network device to the second network device to indicate that the first network device is in a coverage hole and to cause the second network device to change from the temporary access point configuration to an access point configuration.

23. The first network device of claim 22, wherein the coverage hole detection unit is further configured to:

receive the non-reserved network identifier after the second network device changes from the first temporary access point configuration to the access point configuration; and

establish a second communication link between the first network device and the second network device using the non-reserved network identifier.

24. The first network device of claim 18, wherein the first network device and the second network device are hybrid network devices that are configured to communicate using a wireless local area network (WLAN) protocol and at least one member selected from the group consisting of a powerline communication (PLC) protocol and a cellular communication protocol.

25. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having machine executable instructions stored therein, the machine executable instructions comprising instructions to:

receive a first message at a client device from a first network device of a communication network;

determine that the first message includes a reserved network identifier indicating that the first network device is configured in a temporary access point configuration;

determine whether a non-reserved network identifier is received from a second network device of the communication network, in response to determining that the first message includes the reserved network identifier; and

determine that the client device is in a coverage hole, in response to determining that the non-reserved network identifier is not received at the client device.

26. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein said instructions further comprise instructions to:

transmit a notification from the client device to a coordinating device of the communication network to indicate that the client device is in a coverage hole, the coordinating device causing the first network device to change from the temporary access point configuration to an access point configuration; and

receive the non-reserved network identifier from the first network device in response to the first network device changing to the access point configuration.

27. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein said instructions comprise instructions to:

establish a communication link between the client device and the first network device using the non-reserved network identifier.

28. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 25, wherein said instructions comprise instructions to:

establish a first communication link between the client device and the first network device using the reserved network identifier; and

transmit a notification from the client device to the first network device to indicate that the client device is in a coverage hole and to cause the first network device to change from the temporary access point configuration to an access point configuration.

29. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 28, wherein said instructions comprise instructions to:

receive the non-reserved network identifier after the first network device changes from the temporary access point configuration to the access point configuration; and

establish a second communication link between the client device and the first network device using the non-reserved network identifier.