Access point selection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9894580-B1
Application number	US-201615283012-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Sep 30, 2016
Priority date	Sep 30, 2016
Publication date	Feb 13, 2018
Grant date	Feb 13, 2018

Abstract

Disclosed aspects relate to access point selection. A set of beacon frame transmission data for a set of access points may be collected by a computing device. The computing device may use the set of beacon frame transmission data for the set of access points to determine to establish a connection utilizing a first access point of the set of access points. The computing device may establish the connection utilizing the first access point.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for access point selection, the method comprising:
collecting, by a computing device, a set of beacon frame transmission data for a set of access points, wherein the set of beacon frame transmission data includes:
a first subset of the set of beacon frame transmission data for the first access point of the set of access points, wherein the first subset of the set of beacon frame transmission data indicates a first frame success rate for the first access point,
a second subset of the set of beacon frame transmission data for a second access point of the set of access points, wherein the second subset of the set of beacon frame transmission data indicates a second frame success rate for the second access point,
a first number of active devices for the first access point, and
a second number of active devices for the second access point;

comparing a first factor derived utilizing the first frame success rate for the first access point with respect to a second factor derived utilizing the second frame success rate for the second access point;
computing, by the computing device using both the first and second frame success rates and the first and second numbers of active devices, a set of expected network quality scores for the set of access points, wherein a lower number of active devices indicates a higher expected network quality score;
determining, by the computing device using the set of beacon frame transmission data for the set of access points, using a comparison of the first and second factors, and using a comparison of a first expected network quality score for the first access point and a second expected network quality score for the second access point, to establish a connection utilizing a first access point of the set of access points; and
establishing, by the computing device, the connection utilizing the first access point.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
evaluating, by the computing device, a first network capability data for the first access point of the set of access points with respect to a second network capability data for the second access point of the set of access points, wherein:
the first network capability data includes:
a first network infrastructure,
a first set of encryption details, and
a first set of security protocols, and

the second network capability data includes:
a second network infrastructure,
a second set of encryption details, and
a second set of security protocols; and

determining, based on the evaluating of the first and second network capability data, to establish the connection utilizing the first access point of the set of access points.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
analyzing, in advance of establishing the connection, each of:
a set of frequency hopping parameters,
a set of direct-sequence parameters, and
a set of contention-free parameters.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining, by the computing device using the set of beacon frame transmission data for the set of access points, to establish a connection utilizing a first access point of the set of access points includes:
weighting the set of beacon frame transmission data for the set of access points with respect to a set of other information for the set of access points which indicates that network security and encryption level have heavier weights than network signal strength and bandwidth;
identifying, using the weighting, that the first access point achieves a specified threshold related to encryption level; and
selecting, based on the identifying and using the weighting, the first access point of the set of access points.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
monitoring, by the computing device, for a set of beacon frames from the set of access points, wherein the set of beacon frames includes a third number of active devices, a set of network bandwidth information, and a set of signal strength information;
detecting, by the computing device, a first set of beacon frames for the first access point, wherein the first set of beacon frames includes the first number of active devices for the first access point, a first set of network bandwidth information for the first access point, and a first set of signal strength information for the first access point;
detecting, by the computing device, a second set of beacon frames for a second access point, wherein the second set of beacon frames includes the second number of active devices for the second access point, a second set of network bandwidth information for the second access point, and a second set of signal strength information for the second access point;
collecting, by the computing device to ascertain the first frame success rate for the first access point, the first subset of the set of beacon frame transmission data for the first access point, wherein the first subset of the set of beacon frame transmission data includes the first number of active devices for the first access point, the first set of network bandwidth information for the first access point, and the first set of signal strength information for the first access point; and
collecting, by the computing device to ascertain the second frame success rate for the second access point, the second subset of the set of beacon frame transmission data for the second access point, wherein the second subset of beacon frame transmission data includes the second number of active devices for the second access point, the second set of network bandwidth information for the second access point, and the second set of signal strength information for the second access point.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the access point selection is used in a stadium environment, further comprising:
indicating, with respect to the first subset of the set of beacon frame transmission data, a first bandwidth amount of the first access point, a first signal level of the first access point, and a first number of connected devices of the first access point;
calculating, by a computing device using the first subset of the set of beacon frame transmission data, the first frame success rate for the first access point;
indicating, with respect to a second subset of the set of beacon frame transmission data, a second bandwidth amount of the second access point, a second signal level of the second access point, and a second number of connected devices of the second access point;
calculating, by the computing device using the second subset of the set of beacon frame transmission data, the second frame success rate for the second access point;
calculating, by the computing device using the first and second bandwidth amounts, the first and second number of connected devices, and the first and second frame success rates, a net amount of available bandwidth from the first and second access points;
computing, by the computing device, the available bandwidth for each of the first and second access points;
comparing available bandwidth values for the first and second access points;
determining, based on the comparing, that the first access point is expected to be associated with greater network quality than the second access point; and
selecting, to establish a connection with the computing device, the first access point.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computing device includes a mobile computing device, and further comprising:
initiating, by the mobile computing device in an automated fashion without user intervention, the access point selection in response to a triggering event.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
configuring the triggering event to include a detection that a data rate provided by a currently c

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Chen Hsiang Wen
• Chen Hsiao Yung
• Chi Wen Ping
• Hsieh Hsin Yu
• Wang Wendy Ping Wen

Classifications

• H04W88/08

  Access point devices · CPC title

• H04W48/16 Primary

  Discovering, processing access restriction or access information · CPC title

• H04W48/20

  Selecting an access point · CPC title

• H04W36/0005

  Control or signalling for completing the hand-off · CPC title

• H04W36/18 Primary

  for allowing seamless reselection, e.g. soft reselection · CPC title