Communication with a device on nearby wireless network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11722953-B2
Application number	US-202117412351-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 26, 2021
Priority date	Aug 26, 2021
Publication date	Aug 8, 2023
Grant date	Aug 8, 2023

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer program products for communicating with a device on nearby wireless network are provided. Aspects include receiving, by a user device, a beacon frame from an access point of a wireless network. Aspects also include obtaining, by the user device from the beacon frame, direct link information for the wireless network, wherein the direct link information includes connection information for a guest network associated with the wireless network. Aspects further include receiving, by the user device from a user, a message intended for the device on the wireless network and connecting, by the user device, to a guest network. Aspects also include transmitting, by the user device, the message to the device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for communicating with a device on nearby wireless network, the method comprising:
receiving, by a user device, a beacon frame from an access point of a wireless network;
obtaining, by the user device from the beacon frame, direct link information for the wireless network, wherein the direct link information includes connection information for a guest network associated with the wireless network;
receiving, by the user device from a user, a message intended for the device on the wireless network;
connecting, by the user device, to a guest network; and
transmitting, by the user device, the message to the device.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the user device is not connected to the wireless network when the user device receives the beacon frame.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the direct link information includes a guest service set identifier (SSID) for the guest network and a target link.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 , wherein transmitting the message to the device includes transmitting a message to a location specified in the target link.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the direct link information is obtained from a vendor specific information field of the beacon frame.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving, by the user device, a response to the message from the device while the user device is connected to the guest network.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying a list of nearby wireless networks to the user, wherein each of the wireless networks to the user includes an estimated distance to a closest access point of the wireless network that is determined based on a signal strength of a signal from the closest access point.

8. A system comprising:
one or more processors for executing computer-readable instructions, the computer-readable instructions controlling the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving, by a user device, a beacon frame from an access point of a wireless network;
obtaining, from the beacon frame, direct link information for the wireless network, wherein the direct link information includes connection information for a guest network associated with the wireless network;
receiving, from a user, a message intended for the device on the wireless network;
connecting to a guest network; and
transmitting the message to the device.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the user device is not connected to the wireless network when the user device receives the beacon frame.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the direct link information includes a guest service set identifier (SSID) for the guest network and a target link.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein transmitting the message to the device includes transmitting a message to a location specified in the target link.

12. The system of claim 8 , wherein the direct link information is obtained from a vendor specific information field of the beacon frame.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving, by the user device, a response to the message from the device while the user device is connected to the guest network.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the operations further comprise displaying a list of nearby wireless networks to the user, wherein each of the wireless networks to the user includes an estimated distance to a closest access point of the wireless network that is determined based on a signal strength of a signal from the closest access point.

15. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
receiving, by a user device, a beacon frame from an access point of a wireless network;
obtaining, by the user device from the beacon frame, direct link information for the wireless network, wherein the direct link information includes connection information for a guest network associated with the wireless network;
receiving, by the user device from a user, a message intended for the device on the wireless network;
connecting, by the user device, to a guest network; and
transmitting, by the user device, the message to the device.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the user device is not connected to the wireless network when the user device receives the beacon frame.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the direct link information includes a guest service set identifier (SSID) for the guest network and a target link.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein transmitting the message to the device includes transmitting a message to a location specified in the target link.

19. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the direct link information is obtained from a vendor specific information field of the beacon frame.

20. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise receiving, by the user device, a response to the message from the device while the user device is connected to the guest network.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• An Zheng Lei
• Huang Yan
• Wang Lei
• Feng Kai

Classifications

• H04W48/16 Primary

  Discovering, processing access restriction or access information · CPC title

• H04W48/12 Primary

  using downlink control channel · CPC title

• H04W76/10

  Connection setup · CPC title

• H04W48/18

  Selecting a network or a communication service · CPC title

• H04W92/18

  between terminal devices · CPC title