Wi-Fi virtual port uplink medium access control

• US 9,215,754 B2
• Filed: 03/22/2012
• Issued: 12/15/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fortinet Inc.
• Original Assignee: MENU Networks
• Inventors: Ram, Mohan, Han, Sung-Wook, Dunsbergen, Berend, Bharghavan, Vaduvur, Epstein, Joseph
• Primary Examiner(s): Hsu, Alpus H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Thai, Camquyen
• Application Number:
  US13/426,703
• Publication Number:
  US 20120307792A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,363 Days
• Field of Search: 709/124, 709/227, 709/229, 455/525, 455/436, 455/439, 455/526, 455/452.1, 455/509, 370/338, 370/343, 370/322, 370/315, 370/400, 370/94, 370/60, 370/329, 370/252, 370/331, 726/3, 726/5, 726/15
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/50 Testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/10 Dynamic resource partitioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/22 for handling the traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/38 by fixed network equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/02 Access restriction performed under specific conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/14 using user query or user detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0446 Resources in time domain, e.g. slots or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/29 between an access point and the access point controlling device
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/51 based on terminal or device properties
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/006 in the downlink, i.e. towards the terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/06 using polling
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

Uplink medium access control on per-wireless device level. An access point sends a beacon frame to a wireless device. The beacon frame includes a BSSID that is unique to the wireless device. The beacon frame also includes embedded uplink configurations specifying uplink medium access for the wireless device. In one embodiment, a controller recognizes a device or user associated with the device, and sends corresponding uplink configurations for embedding in a subsequent beacon frame.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for controlling uplink medium access of a plurality of wireless devices to a desired level on a per device basis while connected to access points of a wireless network with modified beacon frames, the method comprising the steps of:

determining a desired level of uplink access for a wireless device from a network perspective, based on characteristics associated with the device;

determining uplink configurations for the wireless device corresponding to the desired level of uplink access including identifying values of a Quiet element of a beacon corresponding to the uplink configurations;

associating a per-device BSSID (Basic Service Set Identifier) with the uplink configurations for the wireless device, wherein per-device BSSIDs are only assigned to a single wireless device in order to customize uplink access independently for each wireless device;

generating a modified beacon frame with the uplink configurations and the per-device BSSID to a wireless device including embedding the uplink configurations in the Quiet Element field of the beacon with the identified values;

sending the modified beacon frame with the unique BSSID and at least one other BSSID; and

receiving a transmission from the wireless device that complies with the uplink configurations of the modified beacon frame.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the embedding the uplink configurations in the Quiet Element field comprises:

determining a value for at least one of Quiet Count, Quiet Period, Quiet Duration and Quiet Offset in accordance with a desired level of uplink medium access.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

embedding the uplink configurations in at least one of an EDCA Enhanced Distributed Channel Access) Parameter Set field and a CWmin (minimum Contention Window) field of the beacon.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the embedding the uplink configurations in the at least one of the EDCA Parameter Set field and the CWmin field of the beacon comprises:

determining a value for at least one of an AIFS field and a CWmin (minimum Contention Window) field in accordance with a desired level of uplink medium access.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sending the unique BSSID to the wireless device embedded within a beacon.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving the uplink configurations from a controller that communicates with a plurality of access points, and at least one other access point uses the BSSID to communicate with the wireless device, the controller determining which access point to send the uplink configurations.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an upload from a second wireless device;

responsive to the upload, sending a beacon frame to the second wireless device, the beacon frame comprising a BSSID that is unique to the second wireless device, and a modified beacon frame that is unique to the second wireless device, the modified beacon frame comprising data associated with unique uplink configurations that are specific to the second wireless device; and

receiving an additional upload from the second wireless device that complies with the uplink configurations of the modified beacon frame.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless device complies with a wireless protocol without native uplink transmission control.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless network comprises an IEEE 802.11 type of network.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an unregulated transmission from the wireless device that is not defined by the uplink configurations,

wherein sending the uplink configurations to the wireless device is responsive to the unregulated transmission exceeding a threshold, the threshold comprising at least one of an amount of bandwidth, an amount of throughput, and a number of media accesses, and

wherein receiving the transmission from the wireless device comprises receiving a regulated transmission that is defined by the uplink configurations.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an unregulated transmission from the wireless device,

wherein sending the uplink configurations to the wireless device is responsive a dynamically changing amount of unregulated network traffic exceeding a threshold that is not defined by the uplink configurations, and

wherein receiving the transmission from the wireless device comprises receiving a regulated transmission that is defined by the uplink configurations.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the modified beacon frame comprises a field that determines an amount of time the wireless device waits before accessing the wireless network.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the modified beacon frame comprises a field that specifies an amount of slots the wireless device waits until accessing the wireless network.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the field also comprises a field that causes the wireless device to wait a random number of slots in addition to the specified number of slots before accessing the wireless network.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving commands from a controller that manages a plurality of access points including the first access point and a second access point; and

handing-off the wireless device from the first access point to the second access point, wherein the second access point sends beacons using the same device identifier, and wherein the wireless device continues to comply with the uplink configurations after the hand-off.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the wireless device is a guest; and

setting the media access based on the wireless device being a guest, the media access for a guest having a different quality of service than a non-guest based on the uplink configurations.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that when executed by a processor, perform a method for controlling uplink medium access of a plurality of wireless devices to a desired level on a per device basis while connected to access points of a wireless network with modified beacon frames, the method comprising the steps of:

determining a desired level of uplink access for a wireless device from a network perspective, based on characteristics associated with the device;

determining uplink configurations for the wireless device corresponding to the desired level of uplink access including identifying values of a Quiet element of a beacon corresponding to the uplink configurations;

associating a per-device BSSID (Basic Service Set Identifier) with the uplink configurations for the wireless device, wherein per-device BSSIDs are only assigned to a single wireless device in order to customize uplink access independently for each wireless device;

generating a modified beacon frame with the uplink configurations and the per-device BSSID to a wireless device including embedding the uplink configurations in the Quiet Element field of the beacon with the identified values;

sending the modified beacon frame with the unique BSSID and at least one other BSSID; and

receiving a transmission from the wireless device that complies with the uplink configurations of the modified beacon frame.

18. An access point to control uplink medium access of a plurality of wireless devices to a desired level on a per device basis while connected to a wireless network with modified beacon frames, the access point comprising:

a processor; and

a memory, storing;

a first module to determine a desired level of uplink access for a wireless device from a network perspective, based on characteristics associated with the device;

a second module to determine uplink configurations for the wireless device corresponding to the desired level of uplink access including identifying values of a Quiet element of a beacon corresponding to the uplink configurations;

a third module to associate a per-device BSSID (Basic Service Set identifier) with the uplink configurations for the wireless device, wherein per-device BSSIDs are only assigned to a single wireless device in order to customize uplink access independently for each wireless device;

a fourth module to generate a modified beacon frame with the uplink configurations and the per-device BSSID to a wireless device including embedding the uplink configurations in the Quiet Element field of the beacon with the identified values;

a fifth module to send the modified beacon frame with the unique BSSID and at least one other BSSID; and

a sixth module to receive a transmission from the wireless device that complies with the uplink configurations of the modified beacon frame.