Band steering for multi-band wireless clients

• US 9,432,848 B2
• Filed: 01/31/2012
• Issued: 08/30/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Aruba Networks Incorporated (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Inventors: Iyer, Pradeep J., Melkote, Keerti G., Narasimhan, Partha
• Primary Examiner(s): MILLS, DONALD L
• Application Number:
  US13/363,309
• Publication Number:
  US 20120243474A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,673 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0876 based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1466 Active attacks involving interception, injection, modification, spoofing of data unit addresses, e.g. hijacking, packet injection or TCP sequence number attacks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/122 Counter-measures against attacks; Protection against rogue devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/22 Processing or transfer of terminal data, e.g. status or physical capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support

Abstract

Band steering for multi-band wireless clients. According to one embodiment of the invention, a method of operations comprises receiving, at a network device, a request from a wireless client device on a first wireless communication band. Thereafter, the network device identifies a unique address identifier associated with the wireless client device based on the received request and stores the unique address identifier in response to determining that the wireless client device is capable of communicating on the first wireless communication band.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a network device in a wireless network that includes a plurality of wireless communication bands including a first wireless communication band that is preferred by the wireless network and a second wireless communication band that is not preferred by the wireless network, a request from a wireless client device on the second wireless communication band, wherein the first wireless communication band is preferred by the wireless network based on network conditions known to the network device, the network conditions comprising at least network traffic information;

identifying, by the network device, a unique Media Access Control (MAC) address associated with the wireless client device based on the request;

determining, by the network device, whether the wireless client device is capable of communication on the first wireless communication band based on the unique MAC address identified from the request, and based on a timestamp and a signal strength associated with a prior connection between the wireless client device and an access point in the wireless network on the first wireless communication band; and

in response to a determination that the wireless client device is capable of communication on the first wireless communication band, communicating, by the network device, with the wireless client device on the first wireless communication band.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the network conditions are not known to the wireless client device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

guiding wireless client devices capable of communicating on the first wireless communication band preferred by the wireless network to associate with the wireless network on the first wireless communication band.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first wireless communication band preferred by the wireless network is different from the second wireless communication band which is determined to be preferred by the wireless client device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second wireless communication band preferred by the wireless client is determined based at least in part on strength of a signal received from the wireless client at the network device.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the network conditions further comprise one or more of:

mixed types of network connections;

shared bandwidth;

radio frequency interferences;

wireless network latency; and

wireless network stability.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that a number of requests received from the wireless client device within a pre-determined time period on the second wireless communication band, which is not preferred by the wireless network, exceeds a threshold; and

responding to the wireless client device on the second wireless communication band.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the threshold or the predetermined time period is dynamically adjustable.

9. A network device in a wireless network comprising:

a memory;

a processor executing instructions stored in the memory;

a receiving mechanism operating with the processor to receive a request from a wireless client device on a non-preferred wireless communication band, wherein the wireless network includes a preferred wireless communication band and the non-preferred wireless communication band based on network conditions known to the network device, the network conditions comprising at least network traffic information;

an identifying mechanism operating with the processor to identify a unique Media Access Control (MAC) address associated with the wireless client device based on the request;

a determining mechanism operating with the processor to determine whether the wireless client device is capable of communicating on the preferred wireless communication band based on the unique MAC address identified from the request, and based on a timestamp and a signal strength associated with a prior connection between the wireless client device and an access point in the wireless network on the preferred wireless communication band;

a storing mechanism coupled to the memory to store, in response to a determination that the wireless client device is capable of communicating on the preferred wireless communication band, the unique MAC address and an indication that the wireless client device is capable of communicating on the preferred wireless communication band, wherein the indication comprises the timestamp and the signal strength; and

a controlling mechanism operating with the processor to

in response to the determination that the wireless client device is capable of communicating on the preferred wireless communication band, de-authenticate the wireless client device,

wait for a further request from the wireless client device on the preferred wireless communication band, and

re-authenticate the wireless client device on the preferred wireless communication band.

10. The network device of claim 9, wherein the network conditions are not known to the wireless client device.

11. The network device of claim 9, further comprising:

a transmitting mechanism operating with the processor to transmit a response to the request from the wireless client device on the preferred wireless communication band.

12. The network device of claim 9, further comprising:

a guiding mechanism operating with the processor to guide wireless client devices capable of communicating on the preferred wireless communication band to associate with the wireless network on the preferred wireless communication band.

13. The network device of claim 12, wherein the preferred wireless communication band is different from the non-preferred wireless communication band which is determined to be preferred by the wireless client device.

14. The network device of claim 13, wherein the non-preferred wireless communication band preferred by the wireless client is determined based at least in part on strength of a signal received from the wireless client at the network device.

15. The network device of claim 9, wherein the network conditions further comprise one or more of:

mixed types of network connections;

shared bandwidth;

radio frequency interferences;

wireless network latency; and

wireless network stability.

16. The network device of claim 9,

wherein the determining mechanism further determines that a number of requests received from the wireless client device within a pre-determined time period on the non-preferred wireless communication band exceeds a threshold;

and

wherein the network device further comprises a responding mechanism operating with the processor, the responding mechanism to respond to the wireless client device on the non-preferred wireless communication band.

17. The network device of claim 16, wherein the threshold or the pre-determined time period is dynamically adjustable.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the threshold or the pre-determined time period is dynamically adjustable.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing embedded instructions that are executed by one or more mechanisms implemented within a network device to perform a plurality of operations comprising:

receiving a request from a wireless client device on a non-preferred wireless communication band, wherein the wireless network includes a preferred wireless communication band and the non-preferred wireless communication band based on network conditions known to the network device, the network conditions comprising at least network traffic information;

identifying a unique Media Access Control (MAC) address associated with the wireless client device based on the request;

determining whether the wireless client device is capable of communicating on the first preferred wireless communication band based on the unique MAC address identified from the request, and based on a timestamp and a signal strength associated with a prior connection between the wireless client device and an access point in the wireless network on the preferred wireless communication band;

in response to a determination that the wireless client device is capable of communicating on the preferred wireless communication band, storing the unique MAC address and an indication that the wireless client device is capable of communicating on the preferred wireless communication band, wherein the indication comprises the timestamp and the signal strength;

in response to the determination that the wireless client device is capable of communicating on the preferred wireless communication band, ignoring the request from the wireless client device on the non-preferred wireless communication band;

waiting for a further request from the wireless client device on the preferred wireless communication band; and

responding to the wireless client device on the preferred wireless communication band.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the network conditions are not known to the wireless client device.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, further comprising:

transmitting a response to the request from the wireless client device on the preferred wireless communication band.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, further comprising:

guiding wireless client devices capable of communicating on the preferred wireless communication band to associate with the wireless network on the preferred wireless communication band.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the preferred wireless communication band is different from the non-preferred wireless communication band which is determined to be preferred by the wireless client device.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 22, wherein the non-preferred wireless communication band preferred by the wireless client is determined based at least in part on strength of a signal received from the wireless client at the network device.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the information known to the network device comprises one or more of:

mixed types of network connections;

shared bandwidth;

radio frequency interferences;

wireless network latency; and

wireless network stability.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 18, further comprising:

determining that a number of requests received from the wireless client device within a pre-determined time period on the non-preferred wireless communication band exceeds a threshold; and

responding to the wireless client device on the non-preferred wireless communication band.