Method And Apparatus For Scanning And Device Detection In A Communication System

• US 20140369234A1
• Filed: 08/29/2014
• Published: 12/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Atmel Corporation (Microchip Technology Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Atmel Corporation (Microchip Technology Incorporated)
• Inventors: Vleugels, Katelijn, Thompson, Barry, Bunger, Nils, Minkin, Ilya
• Granted Patent: US 9,198,115 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/14 using user query or user detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

In a communication system wherein a plurality of electronic devices connect and disconnect from communication over a medium and wherein the communication system has a protocol such that it is followed by the plurality of electronic devices when using the communication system, a probing device attempts to detect presence of a listening device and parameters associated with a connection to be set up between the probing device and the listening device by sending a probe request packet directed to the listening device and sending, from the listening device, a probe response packet in response to the probe request packet, wherein the listening device bypasses at least one step of the protocol when sending the probe response packet. The bypassed step might be medium arbitration, the communication system might be a wireless network fully or partially based on an 802.11x specification, or a wireless network that uses 802.11x frame formatting and/or modifications/extensions thereof.

Claims

1. In a communication system wherein a plurality of electronic devices connect and disconnect from communication over a medium and wherein the communication system has a protocol such that it is followed by the plurality of electronic devices when using the communication system, a method for device detection wherein a probing device attempts to detect presence of a listening device and parameters associated with a connection to be set up between the probing device and the listening device, comprising:

sending, from the probing device, a probe request packet directed to the listening device; and

sending, from the listening device, a probe response packet in response to the probe request packet, wherein the listening device bypasses at least one step of the protocol when sending the probe response packet.