Method and Apparatus for Inferring Wireless Scan Information without Performing Scanning or Performing Limited Scanning

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016227473-A1
Application number	US-201514609218-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 29, 2015
Priority date	Jan 29, 2015
Publication date	Aug 4, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

According to one embodiment of the invention, a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more hardware processors, cause performance of operations comprising entering, by a first access point associated with a wireless network, a first mode for collecting network data from one or more access points associated with the wireless network, entering, by the first access point, a second mode for transmitting data to and from one or more client devices associated with the wireless network, and when a number of access points associated with the wireless network is greater than or equal to a number of channels of the wireless network, (i) collecting, by the first access point, network data of a first channel of the wireless network and (ii) receiving, by the first access point, network data of a second channel of the wireless network from a network coordination device is shown.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more hardware processors, cause performance of operations comprising:
entering, by a first access point associated with a wireless network, into a first mode for collecting network data from one or more access points associated with the wireless network; entering, by the first access point, into a second mode for transmitting data to and receiving data from one or more client devices associated with the wireless network; and when a number of access points associated with the wireless network is greater than or equal to a number of channels of the wireless network, (i) collecting, by the first access point, network data over a first wireless channel supported by the wireless network and (ii) receiving, by the first access point, network data associated with one or more other wireless channels supported by the wireless network from a network coordination device.

2 . The medium of claim 1 further comprising:
when the number of access points associated with the wireless network is less than the number of channels of the wireless network, (i) collecting, by the first access point, network data of the first channel of the wireless network, (ii) receiving, by the first access point, network data of the second channel of the wireless network from the network coordination device and (iii) scanning, by the first access point, a third channel of the wireless network for network data, wherein no access point operates on the third channel.

3 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein network data includes one or more of a media access control (MAC) address of one of the one or more access points associated with the wireless network, a MAC address of one or more client devices, a signal strength of a received probe request from one of the one or more client devices, a time of receipt of the received probe request from the of the one or more client devices, a location of one of the one or more access points associated with the wireless network, a channel on which one of the one or more access points associated with the wireless network is operating, a location of one or more client devices, an access point of the one or more access points associated with the wireless network to which a client device is associated, a load on a channel of the wireless network, or one or more operating requirements of one of the one or more client devices.

4 . The medium of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting, by the first access point, an event that causes the first access point to enter the first mode.

5 . The medium of claim 4 , wherein the event is a detection of a threshold number of access points being added to the wireless network in an active state.

6 . The medium of claim 4 , wherein the event is a detection of a threshold number of access points associated with the wireless network being placed in an inactive state.

7 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein collecting network data in the first mode includes the first access point scanning a prescribed channel of the wireless network for beacon messages from the from one or more access points associated with the wireless network.

8 . The medium of claim 7 , wherein the beacon messages are transmitted at a prescribed signal strength.

9 . The medium of claim 1 , wherein, when in the first mode, the first access point transmits a beacon message on the prescribed channel, at a prescribed time and at a prescribed signal strength.

10 . A system comprising:
a network coordination device that comprises a hardware processor; and a plurality of access points in communication with the network coordination device within a wireless network, the plurality of access point comprises a hardware processor and is configured to enter into a first mode to exchange network data among the plurality of access points, and subsequently, enter into a second mode for transmitting data to and from one or more client devices associated with the wireless network, wherein when a number of access points associated with the wireless network is greater than or equal to a number of channels of the wireless network, (i) collecting, by a first access point of the plurality of access points, network data of a first channel of the wireless network and (ii) receiving, by the first access point of the plurality of access points, network data of a second channel of the wireless network from a network coordination device.

11 . The system of claim 10 , wherein:
when the number of access points associated with the wireless network is less than the number of channels of the wireless network, (i) collecting, by the first access point of the plurality of access points, network data of the first channel of the wireless network, (ii) receiving, by the first access point of the plurality of access points, network data of the second channel of the wireless network from the network coordination device and (iii) scanning, by the first access point of the plurality of access points, a third channel of the wireless network for network data, wherein no access point operates on the third channel.

12 . The system of claim 10 , wherein the first access point to detect an event that causes a transmission of a signal to the network coordination device signifying the plurality of access points are to enter the first mode.

13 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more hardware processors within a first access point, cause performance of operations comprising:
receiving a probe request from a first client device within a wireless network; analyzing the probe request to determine a radio frequency (RF) neighborhood graph is to be regenerated; in response to determining the RF neighborhood graph is to be regenerated, transmitting a signal to a network coordination device that the RF neighborhood graph is to be regenerated.

14 . The medium of claim 13 , wherein the RF neighborhood graph is a logical construct of the locations of each AP associated the wireless network.

15 . The medium of claim 14 , wherein the RF neighborhood graph includes a location of a client device associated with the wireless network.

16 . The medium of claim 13 , wherein the probe request includes a media access control (MAC) address of the first client device.

17 . The medium of claim 16 , wherein analyzing the probe request includes correlating the MAC address of the first client device, a time of receipt of the probe request, and a signal strength of the probe request with the RF neighborhood graph.

18 . The medium of claim 13 , further comprising:
receiving, by the first access point, an instruction, from the network coordination device, to enter a first mode for collecting network data from one or more access points associated with the wireless network.

19 . The medium of claim 18 , further comprising:
regenerating the RF neighborhood graph.

20 . The medium of claim 13 , wherein the probe request is only analyzed if the first client device has been associated with a single access point associated with the wireless network for at least a threshold period of time.

Assignees

• Aruba Networks Inc

Inventors

• Bhanage Gautam
• Gupta Manoj
• Narasimhan Parthasarathy

Classifications

• H04W48/16 Primary

  Discovering, processing access restriction or access information · CPC title

• H04W16/00 Primary

  Network planning, e.g. coverage or traffic planning tools; Network deployment, e.g. resource partitioning or cells structures · CPC title

• H04W8/005

  Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals · CPC title

• H04W24/02 Primary

  Arrangements for optimising operational condition · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title