Associating a wireless station with an access point
First Claim
1. A method of associating a station to one of a plurality of access points in a wireless local area network (WLAN), the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) measuring a downlink signal quality of a message received in a signal from each of one or more access points;
(b) transmitting a test link request to each of the one or more access points;
(c) receiving a corresponding test link response for each of one or more of the test link requests, the corresponding test link response including an uplink signal quality to the corresponding access point;
(d) identifying at least one access point having a downlink signal quality above a predetermined threshold; and
(e) associating to the access point, from among the at least one access point identified in step (d), having the highest uplink signal quality.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A station associates with an access point in a wireless local area network conforming to, e.g., an IEEE 802.11 standard. The station measures the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for the downlink from each of the access points sending either a beacon or a probe response, and forms a first list of access points in decreasing order of received downlink SNR. The station transmits a link test request to each access point to query the access point for the SNR of the link test request received at the corresponding access point. Access points respond to the link test request with corresponding link test responses containing the corresponding SNR. The station i) forms a second list of access points in decreasing order of received uplink SNR and ii) compares the first and second lists to determine which access point to associate with based on overall quality of the uplink and downlink channels.
29 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method of associating a station to one of a plurality of access points in a wireless local area network (WLAN), the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) measuring a downlink signal quality of a message received in a signal from each of one or more access points; (b) transmitting a test link request to each of the one or more access points; (c) receiving a corresponding test link response for each of one or more of the test link requests, the corresponding test link response including an uplink signal quality to the corresponding access point; (d) identifying at least one access point having a downlink signal quality above a predetermined threshold; and (e) associating to the access point, from among the at least one access point identified in step (d), having the highest uplink signal quality. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method of associating a station to one of a plurality of access points in a wireless local area network (WLAN), the method comprising the steps of:
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(a) transmitting a test link request to each of one or more access points; (b) receiving a corresponding test link response for each of one or more of the test link requests, the corresponding test link response including an uplink signal quality to the corresponding access point; (c) measuring a downlink signal quality of the corresponding access point for each corresponding test link response; (e) identifying at least one access point having a downlink signal quality above a predetermined threshold; and (f) associating to the access point, from among the at least one access point identified in step (e), having the highest uplink signal quality.
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10. Apparatus for associating a station to one of a plurality of access points in a wireless local area network (WLAN), the apparatus comprising:
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a detector adapted to measure a downlink signal quality of a message received in a signal from each of one or more access points; a transmitter adapted to transmit a test link request to each of the one or more access points; a receiver adapted to receive a corresponding test link response for each of one or more of the test link requests, the corresponding test link response including an uplink signal quality to the corresponding access point; and a comparator adapted to; (i) identify at least one access point having a downlink signal quality above a predetermined threshold; and (ii) identify the access point, from among the at least one access point identified in step (i), having the highest uplink signal quality; wherein the apparatus is adapted to associate to the access point identified in step (ii) as having the highest uplink signal quality. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. Apparatus for associating a station to one of a plurality of access points in a wireless local area network (WLAN), the apparatus comprising:
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a transmitter adapted to transmit a test link request to each of one or more access points; a receiver adapted to receive a corresponding test link response for each of one or more of the test link requests, the corresponding test link response including an uplink signal quality to the corresponding access point; a detector adapted to measure a downlink signal quality of the corresponding access point for each corresponding test link response; and a comparator adapted to; (i) identify at least one access point having a downlink signal quality above a predetermined threshold; and (ii) identify the access point, from among the at least one access point identified in step (i), having the highest uplink signal quality; wherein the apparatus is adapted to associate to the access point identified in step (ii) as having the highest uplink signal quality.
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Specification