Methods to optimize and streamline AP placement on floor plan
First Claim
1. A method for placing access points (APs) on a floor plan map, the method comprising:
- receiving a floor plan map and location information for a plurality of APs, wherein the floor plan map corresponds to a venue, and the plurality of APs are placed physically at the venue;
accessing a plurality of conventions associated with the plurality of APs, wherein a first one of the plurality of conventions indicates identity information for each AP of the plurality of APs and a second one of the plurality of conventions indicates the location information for each AP of the plurality of APs, wherein the identity information comprises at least one of signal strength, unique numerical identifier, serial number, media access control (“
MAC”
) address, name, frequency information, MAC address prefix, chip model, vendor information, manufacturer information, model information, bandwidth information, number of ports, or number of antennas;
determining a first current location in the venue of a first AP of the plurality of APs based on location information for the first AP and identity information for the first AP, the identity information for the first AP based on a first convention of the plurality of conventions and the location information for the first AP based on a second convention of the plurality of conventions different from the first convention;
determining a second current location in the venue of a second AP of the plurality of APs based on location information for the second AP and identity information for the second AP, the identity information for the second AP based on the first convention and the location information for the second AP based on the second convention;
automatically placing a representation of the first AP on the floor plan map at the first current location; and
automatically placing a representation of the second AP on the floor plan map at the second current location.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments may automatically place access points (APs) on floor plans by incorporating a number of conventions for identifying types and locations of APs. These conventions may include the name of APs, MAC addresses, lat/lon information, and feature analysis or image recognition techniques for matching visual cues if the AP locations are marked on images. Some embodiment may conduct several other operations to optimize placement of APs. These optimization operations may reduce the number of steps needed to place APs on floor plans, and/or may reduce extraneous and superfluous information from the floor plans that may clutter the annotated floor plan map.
21 Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method for placing access points (APs) on a floor plan map, the method comprising:
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receiving a floor plan map and location information for a plurality of APs, wherein the floor plan map corresponds to a venue, and the plurality of APs are placed physically at the venue; accessing a plurality of conventions associated with the plurality of APs, wherein a first one of the plurality of conventions indicates identity information for each AP of the plurality of APs and a second one of the plurality of conventions indicates the location information for each AP of the plurality of APs, wherein the identity information comprises at least one of signal strength, unique numerical identifier, serial number, media access control (“
MAC”
) address, name, frequency information, MAC address prefix, chip model, vendor information, manufacturer information, model information, bandwidth information, number of ports, or number of antennas;determining a first current location in the venue of a first AP of the plurality of APs based on location information for the first AP and identity information for the first AP, the identity information for the first AP based on a first convention of the plurality of conventions and the location information for the first AP based on a second convention of the plurality of conventions different from the first convention; determining a second current location in the venue of a second AP of the plurality of APs based on location information for the second AP and identity information for the second AP, the identity information for the second AP based on the first convention and the location information for the second AP based on the second convention; automatically placing a representation of the first AP on the floor plan map at the first current location; and automatically placing a representation of the second AP on the floor plan map at the second current location. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An apparatus configured to place access points (APs) on a floor plan map, the apparatus comprising:
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a receiver configured to receive a floor plan map and location information for a plurality of APs, wherein the floor plan map corresponds to a venue, and the plurality of APs are placed physically at the venue; a processor configured to; access a plurality of conventions associated with the plurality of APs, wherein a first one of the plurality of conventions indicates identity information for each AP of the plurality of APs and a second one of the plurality of conventions indicates the location information for each AP of the plurality of APs determine a first current location in the venue of a first AP of the plurality of APs based on location information for the first AP and identity information for the first AP, the identity information for the first AP based on a first convention of the plurality of conventions and the location information for the first AP based on a second convention of the plurality of conventions different from the first convention, wherein the identity information comprises at least one of signal strength, unique numerical identifier, serial number, media access control (“
MAC”
) address, name, frequency information, MAC address prefix, chip model, vendor information, manufacturer information, model information, bandwidth information, number of ports, or number of antennas;determine a second current location in the venue of a second AP of the plurality of APs based on location information for the second AP and identity information for the second AP, the identity information for the second AP based on the first convention and the location information for the second AP based on the second convention; automatically place a representation of the first AP on the floor plan map at the first current location; and automatically place a representation of the second AP on the floor plan map at the second current location. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. An apparatus for placing access points (APs) on a floor plan map, the apparatus comprising:
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means for receiving a floor plan map and location information for a plurality of APs, wherein the floor plan map corresponds to a venue, and the plurality of APs are placed physically at the venue; means for accessing a plurality of conventions associated with the plurality of APs, wherein a first one of the plurality of conventions indicates identity information for each AP of the plurality of APs and a second one of the plurality of conventions indicates the location information for each AP of the plurality of APs; means for determining a first current location in the venue of a first AP of the plurality of APs based on location information for the first AP and identity information for the first AP, the identity information for the first AP based on a first convention of the plurality of conventions and the location information for the first AP based on a second convention of the plurality of conventions different from the first convention, wherein the identity information comprises at least one of signal strength, unique numerical identifier, serial number, media access control (“
MAC”
) address, name, frequency information, MAC address prefix, chip model, vendor information, manufacturer information, model information, bandwidth information, number of ports, or number of antennas;means for determining a second current location in the venue of a second AP of the plurality of APs based on location information for the second AP and identity information for the second AP, the identity information for the second AP based on the first convention and the location information for the second AP based on the second convention; means for automatically placing a representation of the first AP on the floor plan map at the first current location; and means for automatically placing a representation of the second AP on the floor plan map at the second current location. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A non-transitory computer program product for placing access points (APs) on a floor plan map, the computer program product residing on a processor-readable medium and comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause a processor to:
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receive a floor plan map and location information for a plurality of APs, wherein the floor plan map corresponds to a venue, and the plurality of APs are placed physically at the venue; access a plurality of conventions associated with the plurality of APs, wherein a first one of the plurality of conventions indicates identity information for each AP of the plurality of APs and a second one of the plurality of conventions indicates the location information for each AP of the plurality of APs determine a first current location in the venue of a first AP of the plurality of APs based on location information for the first AP and identity information for the first AP, the identity information for the first AP based on a first convention of the plurality of conventions and the location information for the first AP based on a second convention of the plurality of conventions different from the first convention, wherein the identity information comprises at least one of signal strength, unique numerical identifier, serial number, media access control (“
MAC”
) address, name, frequency information, MAC address prefix, chip model, vendor information, manufacturer information, model information, bandwidth information, number of ports, or number of antennas;determine a second current location in the venue of a second AP of the plurality of APs based on location information for the second AP and identity information for the second AP, the identity information for the second AP based on the first convention and the location information for the second AP based on the second convention; automatically place a representation of the first AP on the floor plan map at the first current location; and automatically place a representation of the second AP on the floor plan map at the second current location. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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Specification