Automated wireless access point selection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9894604-B1
Application number	US-201514665814-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Mar 23, 2015
Priority date	Mar 23, 2015
Publication date	Feb 13, 2018
Grant date	Feb 13, 2018

Abstract

Approaches enable a device capable of wireless communication, such as a device having a wireless adapter, to automatically select and connect to an available wireless access point (AP) having favorable performance, security, and/or other attributes that may be ascertained through various parameters, despite the wireless AP not being the last-known and/or last-connected-to wireless AP. The wireless-enabled device may determine the wireless AP to connect to in a number of ways, such as by determining all available wireless APs in the vicinity of the device and identifying, ranking and/or scoring the parameters for some or all of the available wireless APs to determine a ranking of the wireless APs. Once a favorable wireless AP is identified, the device may automatically attempt to connect to the wireless AP. If the wireless AP is not available, the device may automatically attempt to connect to the next wireless AP in the ranked list, etc.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer implemented method, comprising:
determining, by a computing device having a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) network adapter, a first wireless security protocol associated with a first Wi-Fi access point (AP);
determining a second wireless security protocol associated with a second Wi-Fi AP;
determining a first received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value associated with the first Wi-Fi AP;
determining a second received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value associated with the second Wi-Fi AP;
analyzing the first wireless security protocol, the second wireless security protocol, the first RSSI value, and the second RSSI value to select an initial Wi-Fi AP of the first Wi-Fi AP or the second Wi-Fi AP for connection according to at least one evaluation criterion, independent of the computing device having last connected to the second Wi-Fi AP;
determining a first set of parameters describing the first Wi-Fi AP, wherein the first Wi-Fi AP has been previously connected to by the computing device, the first set of parameters having been stored on the computing device at the time of the most recent previous connection;
determining a second set of parameters describing the second Wi-Fi AP, wherein the second Wi-Fi AP has been previously connected to by the computing device, the second set of parameters having been stored on the computing device at the time of the most recent previous connection;
determining a first total score associated with the first Wi-Fi AP based at least in part on scoring first respective parameter values for the first set of parameters;
determining a second total score associated with the second Wi-Fi AP based at least in part on scoring second respective parameter values for the second set of parameters;
determining that the first total score is higher than the second total score; and
connecting, by the computing device, to the first Wi-Fi AP, based at least on the comparison of the first total score and the second total score.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 ,
wherein the first set of parameters comprise at least: a first physical layer (PHY) rate, a first quality of service (QoS) setting, a first internet access availability determination, a first internet connection quality value, a first Wi-Fi AP standard determination, and a first Wi-Fi AP frequency band determination; and
wherein the second set of parameters comprise at least: a second physical layer (PHY) rate, a second quality of service (QoS) setting, a second internet access availability determination, a second internet connection quality value, a second Wi-Fi AP standard determination, and a second Wi-Fi AP frequency band determination.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining that the first Wi-Fi AP is not available for connection;
determining a third wireless security setting associated with a third Wi-Fi access point (AP),
determining a third received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value associated with the third Wi-Fi AP; and
analyzing the second wireless security protocol, the third wireless security protocol, the second RSSI value, and the third RSSI value to select a next Wi-Fi AP of the second Wi-Fi AP or the third Wi-Fi AP for connection according to the at least one evaluation criterion, independent of the computing device having last connected to the second Wi-Fi AP; and
connecting, by the computing device, to the next Wi-Fi AP.

4. A computer implemented method, comprising:
determining, by a computing device, presence of a first wireless access point (AP) and a second wireless AP, wherein the computing device last connected to the second wireless AP;
determining, by the computing device, a first set of parameters associated with the first wireless AP, the first set of parameters comprising a first subset of parameters and a second subset of parameters;
determining, by the computing device, at least a second set of parameters associated with the second wireless AP, the second set of parameters comprising a third subset of parameters and a fourth subset of parameters;
determining a first total score associated with the first wireless AP, based at least in part on the first subset of parameters and the third subset of parameters;
determining a second total score associated with the second wireless AP, based at least in part on the second subset of parameters and the fourth subset of parameters;
determining that the first total score is equal to the second total score;
selecting a tiebreaker parameter, the tiebreaker parameter being associated with the first wireless AP and the second wireless AP;
determining a first value of the tiebreaker parameter, the first value of the tiebreaker parameter associated with the first wireless AP;
determining a second value of the tiebreaker parameter, the second value of the tiebreaker parameter associated with the second wireless AP, wherein the second value of the tiebreaker parameter has lesser value than the first value of the tiebreaker parameter; and
connecting, by the computing device, to the first wireless AP, based in part on the second value of the tiebreaker parameter.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the first subset of parameters comprises a first wireless security setting associated with the first wireless AP and the third subset of parameters comprises a second security setting associated with the second wireless AP, and determining a first ranking order of the first subset of parameters and the third subset of parameters comprises:
determining, from information stored on the computing device, at least a first set of wireless security settings and a second set of wireless security settings;
determining that the first wireless security setting corresponds to the first set of wireless security settings;
determining that the second wireless security setting corresponds to the second set of wireless security settings; and
determining that the first wireless security setting is ranked higher than the second wireless security setting, based at least in part on the first set of wireless security settings being associated with a higher priority than the second set of wireless security settings.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the second subset of parameters comprises a first received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value associated with the first wireless AP and the fourth subset of parameters comprises a second RSSI value associated with the second wireless AP, and determining a second ranking order of the second subset of parameters and the fourth subset of parameters comprises:
determining, from information stored on the computing device, a first range of RSSI values and a second range of RSSI values;
determining that the first RSSI value corresponds to the first range of RSSI values, wherein the first range of RSSI values is associated with a first priority value;
determining that the second RSSI value corresponds to the second range of RSSI values, wherein the second range of RSSI values is associated with a second priority value lower than the first priority value; and
determining that the first RSSI value is ranked higher than the second RSSI value, based in part on the first and second priority values.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 5 , wherein a first parameter of the second subset of parameters and a second parameter of the fourth subset of parameters correspond to a first parameter category, and a third parameter of the second subset of parameters and a fourth parameter of the fourth subset of parameters correspond to a second parameter category, and determining the second ranking order further comprises:
determining a first parameter score for the fi

Assignees

• Amazon Tech Inc

Inventors

• Tran Binh Quoc
• Guo Jin
• Zhang Shengwei
• Wang Shao Cheng

Classifications

• H04W12/08 Primary

  Access security · CPC title

• H04W84/12

  WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks] · CPC title

• H04W36/08

  Reselecting an access point · CPC title

• H04W48/20 Primary

  Selecting an access point · CPC title

• Y02D30/70

  in wireless communication networks · CPC title