Wireless local area network access points

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9967233-B2
Application number	US-201514427782-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 21, 2015
Priority date	Jan 21, 2015
Publication date	May 8, 2018
Grant date	May 8, 2018

Abstract

A method of operation of a network of WLAN access points comprises establishing a first WLAN access point (AP a ) having a first coverage area; and establishing a plurality of second WLAN access points (AP 1 , . . . , AP 7 ) having respective second coverage areas, such that the second access points provide traffic connections for at least one communications device in at least one of the respective second coverage areas; wherein the first coverage area overlaps the plurality of second coverage areas, and wherein the first WLAN access point provides control information for the at least one communications device.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method of operating a Wireless Local Access Network (WLAN) comprising:
operating a first Access Point (AP) as an anchor node within an overall coverage area of the WLAN, including providing one or more first frequency channels via the first AP having a coverage range extending over the overall coverage area;
operating a plurality of second APs as respective traffic nodes within the overall coverage area of the WLAN, including providing one or more second frequency channels via each second AP having a coverage range extending over a corresponding second coverage area subsumed in the overall coverage area; and
exchanging control data with all communications devices operating in the WLAN via the first AP, the control data effecting network management control of the communications devices with respect to the WLAN, and selectively exchanging traffic data with individual ones of the communications devices via respective ones of the second Aps;
wherein the first AP and the plurality of second APs communicatively couple to a backhaul network, and wherein the traffic data being exchanged with any given communications device flows through the second AP or the second APs currently being used for exchanging the traffic data with the given communications device without passing through the first AP, and
wherein the method further comprises using a first Medium Access Control (MAC) identifier (ID) for the given communications device at the first AP, and using one or more second MAC IDs for the given communications device at the second AP or the second APs currently being used for exchanging the traffic data with the given communications device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein, for extending coverage of the first frequency channels over the overall coverage area, the method includes using a lower frequency band for the first frequency channels, from among two or more defined frequency bands available for operating the first AP and the plurality of second APs, and using one or more higher frequency bands for the second frequency channels provided by each second AP.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein exchanging control data with all communications devices operating in the WLAN via the first AP comprises exchanging handover control signaling with individual ones of the communications devices, in conjunction with movement of the individual ones of the communications devices between respective ones of the second coverage areas, the handover signaling controlling which second AP or which second APs are used for exchanging traffic data with individual ones of the communications devices.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising sending further handover control signaling from the first AP to respective ones of the second APs, to coordinate the handover of individual ones of the communications devices between the respective ones of the second APs.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising evaluating loading information at the first AP, for two or more second APs that are candidates for receiving a given one of the communications devices in handover, and selecting which one of the second APs to use for the handover in dependence on the relative loading.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein operating the first AP as the anchor node further comprises:
receiving all outgoing traffic data for delivery to the communications devices at the first AP, and forwarding the outgoing traffic data to respective ones of the second APs; and
receiving all incoming data traffic from the communications devices at the first AP, as forwarded to the first AP from respective ones of the second APs, and forwarding the incoming data traffic for delivery.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein, for a given communications device having a single radio interface for communicating with the WLAN, exchanging control data with the communications device includes sending control signaling that controls multiplexing of the single radio interface by the communications device for alternating between communicating with the first AP for exchanging control data and communicating with one or more second APs for exchanging traffic data.

8. A method of operating a Wireless Local Access Network (WLAN) comprising:
operating a first Access Point (AP) as an anchor node within an overall coverage area of the WLAN, including providing one or more first frequency channels via the first AP having a coverage range extending over the overall coverage area;
operating a plurality of second APs as respective traffic nodes within the overall coverage area of the WLAN, including providing one or more second frequency channels via each second AP having a coverage range extending over a corresponding second coverage area subsumed in the overall coverage area; and
exchanging control data with all communications devices operating in the WLAN via the first AP, the control data effecting network management control of the communications devices with respect to the WLAN, and selectively exchanging traffic data with individual ones of the communications devices via respective ones of the second APs;
wherein selectively exchanging traffic data with individual ones of the communications devices comprises, for any given communications device that is connected to the first AP but not connected to any of the second APs:
exchanging the traffic data with the given communications device via the first AP, when a limiting parameter for exchanging traffic data via the first AP is not exceeded; and
exchanging the traffic data with the given communications device via one or more of the second APs, when the limiting parameter for exchanging traffic data via the first AP is exceeded;

wherein the limiting parameter is any one or more of: a monitored rate of packets dropped when exchanging the traffic data with the given communications device via the first AP, a data amount threshold that limits the amount of data that can be exchanged at any one time via the first AP, a data rate threshold that limits the data rate permissible or achievable when exchanging traffic data via the first AP, and a Quality-of-Service (QoS) parameter that limits a QoS achievable when exchanging traffic data via the first AP.

9. A method of operating a Wireless Local Access Network (WLAN) comprising:
operating a first Access Point (AP) as an anchor node within an overall coverage area of the WLAN, including providing one or more first frequency channels via the first AP having a coverage range extending over the overall coverage area;
operating a plurality of second APs as respective traffic nodes within the overall coverage area of the WLAN, including providing one or more second frequency channels via each second AP having a coverage range extending over a corresponding second coverage area subsumed in the overall coverage area; and
exchanging control data with all communications devices operating in the WLAN via the first AP, the control data effecting network management control of the communications devices with respect to the WLAN, and selectively exchanging traffic data with individual ones of the communications devices via respective ones of the second APs;
wherein exchanging control data with all communications devices operating in the WLAN via the first AP comprises establishing and maintaining a control channel connection at the first AP for each communications device operating in the WLAN irrespective of mobility of the communications device between or among the second coverage areas, and establishing and maintaining traffic channel connections for the communications device at respective ones of the second APs, under control of the first AP, and in dependence on mobility of the communications device between or among the

Assignees

• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M
• Ericsson Telefon Ab L M

Inventors

• Hiertz Guido
• Lindheimer Christofer
• Rayment Stephen

Classifications

• H04W88/08

  Access point devices · CPC title

• H04W16/32 Primary

  Hierarchical cell structures · CPC title

• H04W36/0061

  of neighbour cell information · CPC title

• H04W28/08

  Load balancing or load distribution (transferring a connection for handling the traffic H04W36/22; wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12) · CPC title

• H04L61/6022 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic