System, method and apparatus for monitoring wireless communications

A method for monitoring wireless communications in a client device having a wireless communications interface, comprising:

• at an operational controller of the client device coupled to the wireless communications interface and implementing (i) an operational media access control (MAC) layer, (ii) an operational synchronizer associated with the operational MAC layer, and (iii) a control component:
• via the control component, placing the operational MAC layer in a connected mode for controlling the wireless communications interface to establish a wireless connection with an access point according to a set of connection parameters including a channel identifier indicating a channel employed for the wireless connection;
• and
• transmitting the set of connection parameters from the operational controller via the operational synchronizer to a monitoring controller implementing (i) a monitoring layer coupled to an analyzer and (ii) a monitoring synchronizer associated with the monitoring MAC layer;
• at the monitoring controller, responsive to receiving the connection parameters from the operational controller via the monitoring synchronizer, monitoring the channel corresponding to the channel identifier to obtain a plurality of frames transmitted over the channel;
• and
• providing the plurality of frames from the monitoring controller to the analyzer.

A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer-readable instructions for execution by a processor of a client device for:

• at an operational controller of the client device coupled to the wireless communications interface and implementing (i) an operational media access control (MAC) layer, (ii) an operational synchronizer associated with the operational MAC layer, and (iii) a control component:
• via the control component, placing the operational MAC layer in a connected mode for controlling the wireless communications interface to establish a wireless connection with an access point according to a set of connection parameters including a channel identifier indicating a channel employed for the wireless connection;
• and
• transmitting the set of connection parameters from the operational controller via the operational synchronizer to a monitoring controller implementing (i) a monitoring layer coupled to an analyzer and (ii) a monitoring synchronizer associated with the monitoring MAC layer;
• at the monitoring controller, responsive to receiving the connection parameters from the operational controller via the monitoring synchronizer, monitoring the channel corresponding to the channel identifier to obtain a plurality of frames transmitted over the channel;
• and
• providing the plurality of frames from the monitoring controller to the analyzer.