Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090252097 | BAND STEERING FOR MULTI-BAND WIRELESS CLIENTS - Band steering for multi-band wireless clients. In a wireless digital network having at least one central controller and a plurality of access nodes connected to the central controller, and wherein some of the access nodes support a preferred wireless band and at least one non-preferred wireless band, the central controller identifies wireless client devices capable of multi-band operation, and encourages them to connect to the preferred wireless band. Client devices may be identified as multi-band capable by tracking probe requests. The central controller keeps a list of multi-band capable clients, for example in a database. This information is provided to other central controllers, and to access nodes attached to the central controller. Multi-band capable clients are encouraged to connect on the preferred wireless band for example by having the access nodes not respond to probe requests on the non-preferred wireless bands. Connections made on the non-preferred wireless bands may be moved to the preferred wireless band. | 10-08-2009 |
20090258668 | ENTERPRISE LOCATION DISCOVERY IN DUAL-MODE PHONES - Enterprise location discovery in dual-mode phones. As dual-mode phones move within the enterprise Wi-Fi network, they track which cell tower they are associated with, reporting this information to an enterprise mobility controller. The enterprise mobility controller builds a list of cell tower identifiers which are associated with enterprise Wi-Fi coverage, and makes this list available to subscribing dual-mode phones. Subscribing dual-mode phones can use this list to only scan for Wi-FI availability when they are associated with a cell tower which is on the list. | 10-15-2009 |
20100113039 | WIRELESS MACRO CELL OVERLAY - Overlaying a Wireless Macro Cell architecture on a Micro Cell network. WLAN MAC Address Translation (WMAT) is used to translate BSSIDs from the BSSID used to initialize a radio in an access node and identify communications between the radio in the access node and a controller, and the BSSID used over the air for Macro Cell operation. WMAT is used for transmit operations, translating the BSSID of outgoing packets to the Macro Cell BSSID prior to wireless transmission. On the receive side, packets undergo WMAT and transmission to the controller if the STN MAC address of the sender is in an ACK table associated with the radio, or the packet is one of a predetermined type. The ACK table is managed by transmit operations, and by control commands from the controller. | 05-06-2010 |
20100275017 | Peer-to-Peer Forwarding for Packet-Switched Traffic - Establishing peer-to-peer tunnels between clients in a mobility domain. In normal operation, clients attached to a network having access nodes connected to a central controller transfer all traffic through the central controller. This traffic is passed using tunnels between the access node and the central controller. Tunnels may be encrypted, and GRE tunnels may be used. A mobility manager operating in the controller tracks access nodes connected to the controller, and clients connected to those access nodes. When the mobility controller recognizes traffic passing between clients in its mobility domain that is eligible for peer-to-peer forwarding, it instructs the access nodes supporting the clients to establish a peer-to-peer tunnel between the nodes, and direct the client traffic through this peer-to-peer tunnel. The peer-to-peer tunnel may be session based, or may be aged. Eligibility of traffic for peer-to-peer tunnels may be controlled by rules, such as limiting peer-to-peer tunnels by source or destination, by port or protocol, and the like. | 10-28-2010 |
20100281180 | Initiating Peer-to-Peer Tunnels - Initiating peer-to-peer tunnels between clients in a mobility domain. Client traffic in a mobility domain normally passes from the initiating client to an access node, and from the access node through a tunnel to a controller, and then through another tunnel from the controller to the destination access node, and the destination client. When initiated by the controller, the access nodes establish a peer-to-peer tunnel for suitable client traffic, bypassing the “slow” tunnels through the controller with a “fast” peer-to-peer tunnel. Traffic through this “fast” tunnel may be initiated once the tunnel is established, or traffic for the “fast” tunnel may be queued up until traffic has completed passing through the “slow” tunnel. This queue and release process may be bidirectional or unidirectional depending on the traffic. Completion of slow tunnel traffic may be sensed in a number of ways. Slow tunnel traffic may be timed out, and queued traffic released after a preset time since the last packet was sent through the slow tunnel. The identity of the last packet sent through the slow tunnel may be retained, and queued traffic released when an acknowledgement for that packet is received. A special packet may be sent through the slow tunnel and queued traffic released when an acknowledgement for that packet is received. | 11-04-2010 |
20110103230 | Balancing Clients Across Bands in a Single Access Point - Balancing client load on an access point in a wireless digital network. An access point tracks the number of connected users and accepts new connections only if the number of connected users is below a preset threshold. The number of connected users may be tracked on an access point wide basis, a per-band basis, a per-BSSID basis, or a combination. Similarly, accepting new connections may be done on an access point wide basis, a per-band basis, a per-BSSID basis, on the basis of client 802.11 capabilities, or a combination. | 05-05-2011 |
20110170528 | System and Method for Advertising the Same Service Set Identifier for Different Basic Service Sets - According to one embodiment of the invention, a method comprises advertising services by a first wireless device. The services are provided by different basic service sets, each basic service set having the same service set identifier (SSID). Thereafter, one of the basic service sets is selected. | 07-14-2011 |
20110235591 | BAND STEERING FOR MULTI-BAND WIRELESS CLIENTS - Band steering for multi-band wireless clients. In a wireless digital network having at least one central controller and a plurality of access nodes connected to the central controller, and wherein some of the access nodes support a preferred wireless band and at least one non-preferred wireless band, the central controller identifies wireless client devices capable of multi-band operation, and encourages them to connect to the preferred wireless band. Client devices may be identified as multi-band capable by tracking probe requests. The central controller keeps a list of multi-band capable clients, for example in a database. This information is provided to other central controllers, and to access nodes attached to the central controller. Multi-band capable clients are encouraged to connect on the preferred wireless band for example by having the access nodes not respond to probe requests on the non-preferred wireless bands. Connections made on the non-preferred wireless bands may be moved to the preferred wireless band. | 09-29-2011 |
20110258236 | Secure Hotspot Roaming - Secure hotspot roaming in wireless networks. An enterprise works with one or more hotspot providers to provide secure access to its clients through hotspot locations. The enterprise provides the hotspot provider, or service provider (SP), with the addresses of enterprise controllers used for client authentication. The SP maintains a database for its controllers which maps the enterprise realm to the address of the enterprise controller. When a client connects to a hotspot access point (AP), the hotspot AP sends client information such as MAC address to a SP controller. The SP controller determines if this is a new or a known client by looking up the client information in a local client to realm database. If the client is known and the realm associated with the client has an entry in the realm to enterprise controller database, the hotspot AP is instructed to begin client authentication with the specified enterprise controller. If the client is not known, authentication begins with the SP controller, and the client is queried for realm information. An entry is made in the SP controller's client to realm database for the client. If a corresponding record is present in the realm to enterprise database, the SP controller instructs the hotspot AP to dynamically switch authentication from the SP controller to the enterprise controller. The realm to enterprise database may also be placed on the hotspot AP, so that the hotspot AP may determine if the client should be passed to an enterprise controller and begin authentication with the enterprise controller directly. | 10-20-2011 |
20110258681 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING AND ENFORCING POLICY WITHIN A WIRELESS NETWORK - In general, one embodiment of the invention is a air monitor adapted to a wireless network. The air monitor enforces policies followed by the wireless network even though it is not involved in the exchange of data between wireless devices of the wireless network such as access points and wireless stations. | 10-20-2011 |
20110258696 | System and Method for Centralized Station Management - In one embodiment of the invention, a wireless network is adapted with a wireless network switch in communication with a plurality of access points, which are in communication with one or more stations. Coupled to the access points over an interconnect, the wireless network switch is adapted to receive a DEAUTHENTICATION message sent by one of the plurality of access points in the same coverage area of the station so as to detect the DEAUTHENTICATION message and to block communications between the plurality of access points and the station in response to determining that the DEAUTHENTICATION message is invalid. | 10-20-2011 |
20120020344 | WIRELESS MACRO CELL OVERLAY - Overlaying a Wireless Macro Cell architecture on a Micro Cell network. WLAN MAC Address Translation (WMAT) is used to translate BSSIDs from the BSSID used to initialize a radio in an access node and identify communications between the radio in the access node and a controller, and the BSSID used over the air for Macro Cell operation. WMAT is used for transmit operations, translating the BSSID of outgoing packets to the Macro Cell BSSID prior to wireless transmission. On the receive side, packets undergo WMAT and transmission to the controller if the STN MAC address of the sender is in an ACK table associated with the radio, or the packet is one of a predetermined type. The ACK table is managed by transmit operations, and by control commands from the controller. | 01-26-2012 |
20120071162 | ENTERPRISE LOCATION DISCOVERY IN DUAL-MODE PHONES - As dual-mode phones move within a wireless network, they track which cell tower they are associated with, reporting this information to a mobility controller. The mobility controller builds a list of cell tower identifiers which are associated with the wireless coverage, and makes this list available to subscribing dual-mode phones. Subscribing dual-mode phones can use this list to scan for network availability when they are associated with a cell tower which is on the list. | 03-22-2012 |
20120072532 | Initiating Peer-to-Peer Tunnels - Client traffic normally passes from a client to an access node, and from the access node through a tunnel to a controller, and then through another tunnel from the controller to the destination access node, and the destination client. When initiated by the controller, the access nodes establish a peer-to-peer tunnel for suitable client traffic, bypassing the “slow” tunnels through the controller with a “fast” peer-to-peer tunnel. Traffic through this “fast” tunnel may be initiated once the tunnel is established, or traffic for the “fast” tunnel may be queued up until traffic has completed passing through the “slow” tunnel. Slow tunnel traffic may be timed out, and queued traffic released after a preset time since the last packet was sent through the slow tunnel. The identity of the last packet sent through the slow tunnel may be retained, and queued traffic released when an acknowledgement for that packet is received. | 03-22-2012 |
20120213159 | System and Method for Centralized Station Management - A wireless network is adapted with a wireless network switch in communication with a plurality of access points, which are in communication with one or more stations. Specifically, a network device may receive a plurality of request messages on a plurality of wireless communication channels through a plurality of access points. The request messages are originated from a single station. Furthermore, the network can extract a plurality of channel identifiers from the request messages, and generates a filtered radio frequency neighborhood list dynamically based on the extracted channel identifiers. | 08-23-2012 |
20120218931 | System and Method for Centralized Station Management - A wireless network is adapted with a wireless network switch in communication with a plurality of access points, which are in communication with one or more stations. Specifically, a network device may receive a multicast or broadcast message. Furthermore, the network device will transmit the multicast or broadcast message if at least one station is associated with the network device, and will discontinue transmitting the multicast or broadcast message if no station is associated with the network device. | 08-30-2012 |
20120243474 | BAND STEERING FOR MULTI-BAND WIRELESS CLIENTS - Band steering for multi-band wireless clients. According to one embodiment of the invention, a method of operations comprises receiving, at a network device, a request from a wireless client device on a first wireless communication band. Thereafter, the network device identifies a unique address identifier associated with the wireless client device based on the received request and stores the unique address identifier in response to determining that the wireless client device is capable of communicating on the first wireless communication band. | 09-27-2012 |
20130148581 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ADVERTISING THE SAME SERVICE SET IDENTIFIER FOR DIFFERENT BASIC SERVICE SETS - According to one embodiment of the invention, a method comprises advertising services. The services are provided by different basic service sets, each basic service set having the same service set identifier (SSID). Thereafter, one of the basic service sets is selected. | 06-13-2013 |
20130265943 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ADVERTISING THE SAME SERVICE SET IDENTIFIER FOR DIFFERENT BASIC SERVICE SETS - According to one embodiment of the invention, a method comprises advertising services. The services are provided by different basic service sets, each basic service set having the same service set identifier (SSID). Thereafter, one of the basic service sets is selected. | 10-10-2013 |
20140140275 | System and Method For Advertising The Same Service Set Identifier For Different Basic Service Sets - According to one embodiment of the invention, a method comprises advertising services. The services are provided by different basic service sets, each basic service set having the same service set identifier (SSID). Thereafter, one of the basic service sets is selected. | 05-22-2014 |
20140280733 | INITIATING PEER-TO-PEER TUNNELS - Initiating peer-to-peer tunnels between clients in a mobility domain. Client traffic in a mobility domain normally passes from the initiating client to an access node, and from the access node through a tunnel to a controller, and then through another tunnel from the controller to the destination access node, and the destination client. When initiated by the controller, the access nodes establish a peer-to-peer tunnel for suitable client traffic, bypassing the “slow” tunnels through the controller with a “fast” peer-to-peer tunnel. Traffic through this “fast” tunnel may be initiated once the tunnel is established, or traffic for the “fast” tunnel may be queued up until traffic has completed passing through the “slow” tunnel. | 09-18-2014 |
20140289338 | INITIATING PEER-TO-PEER TUNNELS - Initiating peer-to-peer tunnels between clients in a mobility domain. Client traffic in a mobility domain normally passes from the initiating client to an access node, and from the access node through a tunnel to a controller, and then through another tunnel from the controller to the destination access node, and the destination client. When initiated by the controller, the access nodes establish a peer-to-peer tunnel for suitable client traffic, bypassing the “slow” tunnels through the controller with a “fast” peer-to-peer tunnel. Traffic through this “fast” tunnel may be initiated once the tunnel is established, or traffic for the “fast” tunnel may be queued up until traffic has completed passing through the “slow” tunnel. | 09-25-2014 |
20140362696 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ADAPTIVE CHANNEL SCANNING WITHIN A WIRELESS NETWORK - An access point device that is adapted to a wireless network and a wired network is disclosed. The access point includes a transceiver to receive wireless frames from a plurality of wireless devices of the wireless network, respectively, and at least one component to process information extracted from the wireless frames and to control channel scanning based upon at least one of an amount of wireless device traffic and a type of call. | 12-11-2014 |
20140369337 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ADAPTIVE CHANNEL SCANNING WITHIN A WIRELESS NETWORK - An access point device that is adapted to a wireless network and a wired network is disclosed. The access point includes a transceiver to receive wireless frames from a plurality of wireless devices of the wireless network, respectively, and at least one component to process information extracted from the wireless frames and to control channel scanning based upon at least one of an amount of wireless device traffic and a type of call. | 12-18-2014 |