Terminal configurable for use within an unknown regulatory domain

• US 9,554,384 B2
• Filed: 10/21/2013
• Issued: 01/24/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hand Held Products Incorporated (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Pease, Michael, Bouchat, Christopher, Dobeck, Brian Roman, Sauerwein, James T., Youngblood, Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): Pezzlo, John
• Application Number:
  US14/058,721
• Publication Number:
  US 20140036848A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,191 Days
• Field of Search: 370/252, 370/338, 370/343, 370/430
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA

Abstract

A terminal for use within an unknown regulatory domain, and a computer program product and method for configuring the terminal, are provided. The terminal can comprise first program instructions to actively scan one or more domain independent channels in a frequency band, second program instructions to configure the terminal for use in the unknown regulatory domain in response to the terminal receiving regulatory domain information as a result of actively scanning one or more of the domain independent channels, third program instructions to passively scan one or more domain dependent channels in the frequency band in response to the terminal not receiving the regulatory domain information as a result of actively scanning one or more of the domain independent channels, and fourth program instructions to configure the terminal for use in the unknown regulatory domain in response to passively scanning one or more domain dependent channels in the frequency band.

Claims

1. A terminal for use within an unknown regulatory domain, the terminal comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more computer readable mediums in communication with the one or more processors and comprising at least one of a computer readable signal medium and a computer readable storage medium for storing computer program code comprising a non-transitory computer program product;

a wireless local area network (WLAN) interface comprising a radio, the radio being operative in a frequency band, wherein the one or more processers is configured, by the non-transitory computer program product to;

actively scan one or more regulatory domain independent channels in the frequency band;

configure the terminal for use in the unknown regulatory domain in response to the terminal receiving regulatory domain information as a result of actively scanning the one or more regulatory domain independent channels;

passively scan one or more regulatory domain dependent channels in the frequency band in response to the terminal not receiving the regulatory domain information as a result of actively scanning the one or more regulatory domain independent channels; and

configure the terminal for use in the unknown regulatory domain in response to passively scanning the one or more regulatory domain dependent channels in the frequency band.

2. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the regulatory domain information is a country information element.

3. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the WLAN interface comprises one of the one or more processors.

4. The terminal of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the regulatory domain information is stored in the one or more computer readable mediums.

5. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the terminal is configured for use in the unknown regulatory domain in response to passively scanning the one or more regulatory domain dependent channels and the terminal receiving the regulatory domain information in a beacon frame or receiving, over one of the one or more regulatory domain dependent channels, a beacon frame devoid of the regulatory domain information.

6. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are further configured, by the non-transitory computer program product, to determine the regulatory domain independent channels from collective regulatory domain data stored on the one or more computer readable mediums.

7. The terminal of claim 1, further comprising an encoded information reading device for outputting decoded message data corresponding to an encoded message.

8. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors is configured to actively scans the one or more domain independent channels by transmitting a probe request over the domain independent channels.

9. The terminal of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors is configured to passively scan the one or more domain dependent by listening to beacon frames without transmitting over the one or more domain dependent channels.

10. A non-transitory computer program product for configuring a terminal for use within an unknown regulatory domain, the terminal comprising a wireless local area network (WLAN) interface, the WLAN interface comprising a radio operative in a frequency band, the non-transitory computer program product comprising:

a computer readable storage medium;

first program instructions to actively scan one or more regulatory domain independent channels in the frequency band;

second program instructions to configure the terminal for use in the unknown regulatory domain in response to the terminal receiving regulatory domain information as a result of actively scanning one or more of the regulatory domain independent channels;

third program instructions to passively scan one or more regulatory domain dependent channels in the frequency band in response to the terminal not receiving the regulatory domain information as a result of actively scanning one or more of the regulatory domain independent channels;

fourth program instructions to configure the terminal for use in the unknown regulatory domain in response to passively scanning one or more regulatory domain dependent channels in the frequency band;

wherein the first, second, and third program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage medium.

11. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 10, wherein the regulatory domain information is a country information element.

12. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 10, wherein the second program instructions include program instructions to store at least a portion of the regulatory domain information in a second computer readable storage medium.

13. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 10, wherein the fourth program instructions include program instructions to configure the terminal for use in the unknown regulatory domain in response to the terminal receiving the regulatory domain information in a beacon frame.

14. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 13, wherein the fourth program instructions include program instructions to store at least a portion of the regulatory domain information in a second computer readable storage medium.

15. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 10, wherein the fourth program instructions include program instructions to configure the terminal for use in the unknown regulatory domain in response to the terminal receiving, over one of the regulatory domain dependent channels, a beacon frame devoid of the regulatory domain information.

16. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 15, wherein the fourth program instructions include program instructions to configure the terminal for use over one or more channels that are permitted for use in each of one or more regulatory domains in which the one of the regulatory domain dependent channels is permitted for use.

17. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 10, further comprising fifth program instructions to determine the regulatory domain independent channels from collective regulatory domain data, wherein the fifth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage medium.

18. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 10, further comprising fifth program instructions to determine the regulatory domain dependent channels from collective regulatory domain data, wherein the fifth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage medium.

19. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 10, wherein the computer program product is provided on a computer system for deployment to a terminal.

20. A method for configuring a terminal for use in an unknown regulatory domain, the method performed by execution of computer-readable program code by one or more processors of a terminal, the method comprising:

actively scanning one or more domain independent channels in a frequency band;

configuring the terminal for use in the unknown regulatory domain in response to the terminal receiving regulatory domain information as a result of actively scanning the one or more domain independent channels;

wherein if the terminal does not receive regulatory domain information during active scanning, thereafter;

(a) passively scanning one or more regulatory domain dependent channels in a frequency band;

(b) configuring the terminal for use in the unknown regulatory domain in response to the terminal receiving a beacon frame comprising regulatory domain information; and

(c) configuring the terminal for use in the unknown regulatory domain in response to the terminal receiving, over one of the regulatory domain dependent channels, a beacon frame devoid of the regulatory domain information.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the regulatory domain information is a country information element.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the configuring step (c) further comprises configuring, using the one or more processors, the terminal for use over one or more channels that are permitted for use in each of one or more regulatory domains in which the one of the regulatory domain dependent channels is permitted for use.

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising determining, using the one or more processors, the one or more domain independent channels prior to the actively scanning step.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein determining the one or more domain independent channels comprises parsing, using the one or more processors, collective regulatory domain data stored on computer readable medium.