Managing associations in ad hoc networks
First Claim
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1. A method performed by a first wireless device, the method comprising:
- attempting to join an ad hoc network, the ad hoc network comprising one or more wireless devices, including at least a second wireless device, the one or more wireless devices each participating in the ad hoc network by operating in an ad hoc mode, the one or more wireless devices each using a same basic service state identifier (BSSID) when exchanging packets to implement the ad hoc network, the attempting to join comprising;
using a radio of the first wireless device in response to a connect call of the first wireless device;
sending, via the radio, a connection request packet from the first wireless device to the second wireless device after the second wireless device has been recognized by the first wireless device, the connection request packet comprising a standard packet-type indicator indicating a standard unicast probe request packet or indicating a standard unicast authentication packet, wherein the standard packet-type does not indicate a standard association request packet, the connection request packet comprising a standard BSSID-field comprising the BSSID, the connection request packet further comprising a standard receiver-field containing a media access control (MAC) address of the second wireless device, the connection request packet further comprising a special information element that contains an operation-type identifier that identifies an operation type of the connection request packet as being a virtual association operation with respect to the ad hoc network, wherein the second wireless device is configured to transmit a connection response packet by determining that the connection request packet is a request to associate by matching the BSSID of the ad hoc network with the BSSID from the connection request packet, the operation-type indicator in the special information element, and by matching the MAC address of the second wireless device with the MAC address from the connection request packet; and
response to receiving, via the radio, the connection response packet from the second wireless device, joining the ad hoc network by associating with the second wireless device.
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Abstract
A first wireless devices establishes an association with a second wireless device by sending a connection request packet to a previously-discovered second wireless device. The second wireless device identifies the received packet as a connection request and responds with a connection response packet, thereby establishing an association between the first and second wireless devices. The wireless devices can then, for example, send and receive data.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method performed by a first wireless device, the method comprising:
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attempting to join an ad hoc network, the ad hoc network comprising one or more wireless devices, including at least a second wireless device, the one or more wireless devices each participating in the ad hoc network by operating in an ad hoc mode, the one or more wireless devices each using a same basic service state identifier (BSSID) when exchanging packets to implement the ad hoc network, the attempting to join comprising; using a radio of the first wireless device in response to a connect call of the first wireless device; sending, via the radio, a connection request packet from the first wireless device to the second wireless device after the second wireless device has been recognized by the first wireless device, the connection request packet comprising a standard packet-type indicator indicating a standard unicast probe request packet or indicating a standard unicast authentication packet, wherein the standard packet-type does not indicate a standard association request packet, the connection request packet comprising a standard BSSID-field comprising the BSSID, the connection request packet further comprising a standard receiver-field containing a media access control (MAC) address of the second wireless device, the connection request packet further comprising a special information element that contains an operation-type identifier that identifies an operation type of the connection request packet as being a virtual association operation with respect to the ad hoc network, wherein the second wireless device is configured to transmit a connection response packet by determining that the connection request packet is a request to associate by matching the BSSID of the ad hoc network with the BSSID from the connection request packet, the operation-type indicator in the special information element, and by matching the MAC address of the second wireless device with the MAC address from the connection request packet; and response to receiving, via the radio, the connection response packet from the second wireless device, joining the ad hoc network by associating with the second wireless device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method to operate a first wireless device in an IBSS (independent basic service set) ad hoc network in which any wireless devices participating in the ad hoc network does so by operating in an ad hoc mode, the IBSS ad hoc network having a corresponding network identifier that identifies the IBSS ad hoc network, the network identifier comprising a service set identifier (SSID) or a basic service set identifier (BSSID), the method performed by the first wireless device and comprising:
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receiving a connection request packet from a previously-discovered and previously authenticated second wireless device, the connection request packet comprising a standard packet-type indicator comprising a standard unicast authentication packet indicator, wherein the standard packet-type indicator does not indicate a standard association request packet, the connection request packet containing (i) a (media access control (MAC) address of the first wireless device, (ii) a special information element that comprises an operation-type identifier that identifies a MAC layer virtual association request operation-type, and (iii) the network identifier, the first wireless device identifying the connection request packet as a virtual association request with respect to the IBSS ad hoc network based on the operation-type identifier, based on matching the MAC address of the first wireless device with the MAC address in the connection request packet, and based on matching the network identifier in the connection request packet with the network identifier of the IBSS ad hoc network; and responsive to identifying the connection request packet as a virtual association request;
wirelessly associating with the second wireless device, sending a connection response packet to the second wireless device, and recording an indication of the association with the second wireless device. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11)
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12. A wireless device comprising:
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a radio, processing hardware, and storage hardware storing instructions for the processing hardware; and a wireless module that becomes operational when the instructions are executed by the processing hardware, the wireless module, when operating, logically connected with the radio and performing a process, when the wireless module is operational, comprising; sending a connection request packet to a second wireless device that has been discovered by the wireless device, the connection request packet comprising a standard packet-type field containing either a standard unicast probe request packet-type indicator or a standard unicast authentication packet-type indicator, wherein the standard packet-type indicator does not indicate a standard association request packet, the connection request packet also containing (i) a (media access control (MAC) address of the second wireless device, (ii) a special information element that comprises an operation-type indicator that indicates a virtual association request with respect to the ad hoc network, and (iii) a network identifier of an independent basic service set (IBSS) ad hoc network, wherein the second wireless device is configured to send a corresponding connection response packet by recognizing that the connection request packet is an association request with respect to the IBSS ad hoc network based on the connection request packet containing the MAC address of the second wireless device, the operation-type indicator in the special information element, and the network identifier of the IBSS ad hoc network; determining that the connection response packet corresponding to the connection request packet was received from the second wireless device within a timeout period, and in response joining the IBSS ad hoc network by associating with the second wireless device. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification