Dynamic wireless local area network configuration in large public venue environments

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12439272-B2
Application number	US-202217982824-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 8, 2022
Priority date	Nov 8, 2022
Publication date	Oct 7, 2025
Grant date	Oct 7, 2025

Abstract

Techniques herein facilitate dynamic configuration of a wireless local area network (WLAN) for large public venue (LPV) environments. In one example, a method may include providing an initial configuration for access points APs of a WLAN for an event at an LPV based on a profile for the event, a location of each AP for the venue, and anticipated demand at the APs; determining, for a particular time for the event, a distribution of wireless devices and channel support capabilities of the wireless devices different locations for the LPV; and providing an updated configuration for one or more APs at the one or more locations for the venue based on the distribution of the wireless devices and the channel support capabilities of the wireless devices determined for the particular time for the event at the LPV.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
providing an initial configuration for a plurality of access points of a wireless network for an event at a venue, wherein the initial configuration is based on a profile for the event, a location of each access point of the plurality of access points of the wireless network for a plurality of locations for the venue, and anticipated demand at the plurality of access points of the wireless network for the venue;
determining, for a particular time for the event at the venue, a distribution of wireless devices and channel support capabilities of the wireless devices at one or more locations of the plurality of locations for the venue; and
providing an updated configuration for one or more access points of the plurality of access points of the wireless network for the venue at the one or more locations of the plurality of locations for the venue based on the distribution of the wireless devices and the channel support capabilities of the wireless devices determined for the particular time for the event at the venue.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the profile for the event identifies one or more of:
a type of the event;
location information for the venue identifying at least one of entrance locations for the venue, exit locations for the venue, bathroom locations for the venue, food locations for the venue, walkways for the venue, and seating information for the event;
at least one of expected wireless device types or expected wireless device capabilities for the event; or
temporal information for the event.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein temporal information for the event includes one or more of:
a start time for the event;
an end time for the event; or
one or more intermediate times for the event.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the initial configuration is further based on at least one of the expected wireless device types or the expected wireless device capabilities for the event.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the initial configuration for the plurality of access points of the wireless network for the event at the venue includes configuring at least one of channels or control features that are to be provided by the plurality of access points of the wireless network for the plurality of locations for the venue.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the distribution of the wireless devices and the channel support capabilities of the wireless devices at the one or more locations of the plurality of locations for the venue are determined based on at least one of probe requests or association requests for the wireless devices.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the probe requests or the association requests identify, at least in part, channels and control features supported by the wireless devices at the one or more locations of the plurality of locations for the venue.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the channels and the control features supported by the wireless devices at the one or more locations of the plurality of locations for the venue are determined based on vendor information for the wireless devices included in the probe requests for the wireless devices.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the control features include one or more of:
Target Wake Time (TWT);
restricted TWT (rTWT);
Multi-Link Operation (MLO);
spectrum or bandwidth specific features; or
Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS).

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein providing the updated configuration for the one or more access points of the plurality of access points of the wireless network for the venue at the one or more locations for the venue includes configuring at least one of channels or control features that are to be provided at the one or more access points of the plurality of access points based on the distribution of the wireless devices and the channel support capabilities of the wireless devices determined for the particular time for the event at the venue.

11. One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations, comprising:
providing an initial configuration for a plurality of access points of a wireless network for an event at a venue, wherein the initial configuration is based on a profile for the event, a location of each access point of the plurality of access points of the wireless network for a plurality of locations for the venue, and anticipated demand at the plurality of access points of the wireless network for the venue;
determining, for a particular time for the event at the venue, a distribution of wireless devices and channel support capabilities of the wireless devices at one or more locations of the plurality of locations for the venue; and
providing an updated configuration for one or more access points of the plurality of access points of the wireless network for the venue at the one or more locations of the plurality of locations for the venue based on the distribution of the wireless devices and the channel support capabilities of the wireless devices determined for the particular time for the event at the venue.

12. The media of claim 11 , wherein the profile for the event identifies one or more of:
a type of the event;
location information for the venue identifying at least one of entrance locations for the venue, exit locations for the venue, bathroom locations for the venue, food locations for the venue, walkways for the venue, and seating information for the event;
at least one of expected wireless device types or expected wireless device capabilities for the event; or
temporal information for the event that includes one or more of: a start time for the event, an end time for the event, or one or more intermediate times for the event.

13. The media of claim 12 , wherein the initial configuration is further based on at least one of the expected wireless device types or the expected wireless device capabilities for the event.

14. The media of claim 11 , wherein providing the initial configuration for the plurality of access points of the wireless network for the event at the venue includes configuring at least one of channels or control features that are to be provided by the plurality of access points of the wireless network for the plurality of locations for the venue.

15. The media of claim 11 , wherein the distribution of the wireless devices and the channel support capabilities of the wireless devices at the one or more locations of the plurality of locations for the venue are determined based on at least one of probe requests or association requests for the wireless devices.

16. A wireless local area network (LAN) controller (WLC) comprising:
at least one memory element for storing data; and
at least one processor for executing instructions associated with the data, wherein executing the instructions causes the WLC to perform operations, comprising:
providing an initial configuration for a plurality of access points of a wireless network for an event at a venue, wherein the initial configuration is based on a profile for the event, a location of each access point of the plurality of access points of the wireless network for a plurality of locations for the venue, and anticipated demand at the plurality of access points of the wireless network for the venue;
determining, for a particular time for the event at the venue, a distribution of wireless devices and channel support capabilities of the wireless devices at one or more locations of the plurality of locations for the venue; and
provid

Assignees

• Cisco Tech Inc

Inventors

• Swartz John Matthew
• Henry Jerome
• Barton Robert Edgar
• Silverman Matthew Aaron
• Anderson Fred Jay
• Suhr Joshua D

Classifications

• H04W4/021

  Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences · CPC title

• H04W24/02

  Arrangements for optimising operational condition · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title

• H04W16/20 Primary

  for indoor coverage or short range network deployment · CPC title