METHOD FOR TESTING A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK INCLUDING A STATION AND AN ACCESS POINT

• US 20150043371A1
• Filed: 03/14/2013
• Published: 02/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Magnolia Licensing LLC (IP Edge LLC)
• Original Assignee: Thomson Licensing (Vantiva SA)
• Inventors: Van Doorselaer, Karel, Van Oost, Koen, Dumet, Sylvain
• Granted Patent: US 9,743,298 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/252
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0829 Packet loss
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/06 Testing, supervising or monitoring using simulated traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

The method for testing a wireless communications network including a station and an access point comprises the steps of sending broadcast packets from the station to the access point in a lower frequency band and waiting for confirmation, calculating a packet loss in the lower frequency band based on the number of sent and confirmed broadcast packets, and calculating a packet loss for a higher frequency band by taking into account the calculated packet loss of the lower frequency band and by using a correlation function between the lower frequency and the higher frequency band. The wireless communications network is in particular a communications network according to one of the IEEE 802.11 recommendations and the broadcast packets are in particular address resolution protocol packets.

Claims

1. A method for testing a wireless communications network including a station and an access point, comprising

sending broadcast packets from the station to the access point in a lower frequency band and waiting for confirmation,

calculating a packet loss in the lower frequency band based on the number of sent and confirmed broadcast packets, and

calculating a packet loss for a higher frequency band by taking into account the calculated packet loss in the lower frequency band and by using a correlation function between the lower and the higher frequency band.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising the step of sending a unicast response message by the access point as the confirmation in response to a received broadcast packet.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the broadcast packets are address resolution protocol packets.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communications network is a communications network in accordance with one of the IEEE 802.11 recommendations.

5. The method of claim 4, comprising the step of sending the broadcast packets without retransmission with the lowest recommended modulation rate according to one of the IEEE 802.11 recommendations.

6. The method of claim 4, comprising the step of sending the broadcast packets with a modulation rate being within a range of 1 and 5 MHz.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the lower frequency band is a 2.4 GHz band, and the higher frequency band is a 5 GHZ band.

8. The method of claim 1, comprising the step of determining a video performance for the higher frequency band from the correlation function.

9. A station, utilizing a method according to claim 1.

10. Computer executable program code for application within a station, the computer executable program code performing the method steps according to claim 1 as subsequent program steps.

11. Computer readable storage medium, comprising computer executable program code for performing a method according to claim 1.

12. A non-transitory program storage medium, readable by a computer, comprising computer executable program code in accordance with claim 10.

13. The method claim 7, wherein the lower frequency band is a 2.4 Gmz ISM band, and the higher frequency band is a 5 GHZ U-NII band.