Method for providing steering in a Wi-Fi network
AssigneeARRIS Enterprises LLC
InventorsLiDan Chen, Haokeng Yu, Tao Peng, ZiJie Chen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Various implementations described herein are directed to technologies for providing steering for devices of a Wi-Fi network. A steering operation to hand off a client from a first device of the Wi-Fi network to a qualified second device of the Wi-Fi network is initiated based on a performance factor. The steering operation from the first device to the second device is performed in a manner that avoids packet loss.
Claims20
A method by an access point for providing steering for a client of a Wi-Fi network, comprising:
- comparing an idle timer of the client to a steering idle timer;
- pushing a media access control (MAC) address of the client to one or more wireless extenders based on the comparison;
- receiving in response to the push a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) information;
- determining from the one or more wireless extenders one or more qualified wireless extenders based on the RSSI information;
- choosing from the one or more qualified wireless extenders a candidate wireless extender;
- and
- starting the steering, wherein starting the steering comprises:
- sending to the candidate wireless extender a pairwise transient key (PTK) of the client to bypass a four-way handshake process for seamless association, wherein the candidate wireless extender broadcasts a new service set identifier (SSID) by using a MAC address of the access point;
- and
- determining that the client is capable of being steered to the candidate wireless extender.
An access point for providing steering for a client of a Wi-Fi network, comprising:
- a memory storing one or more computer-readable instructions;
- and
- a processor configured to execute the one or more computer-readable instructions to:
- compare an idle timer of the client to a steering idle timer;
- push a media access control (MAC) address of the client to one or more wireless extenders based on the comparison;
- receive in response to the push a received signal strength indicator (RSSI);
- determine from the one or more wireless extenders one or more qualified wireless extenders based on the RSSI information;
- choose from the one or more qualified wireless extenders a candidate wireless extender;
- and
- start the steering, wherein starting the steering comprises:
- sending to the candidate wireless extender a pairwise transient key (PTK) of the client to bypass a four-way handshake process for seamless association, wherein the candidate wireless extender broadcasts a new service set identifier (SSID) by using a MAC address of the access point;
- and
- determining that the client is capable of being steered to the candidate wireless extender.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium of an access point storing one or more computer-readable instructions for providing steering of a client of a Wi-Fi network, the one or more computer-readable instructions that when executed by a processor of the access point cause the access point to perform one or more operations comprising:
- comparing an idle timer of the client to a steering idle timer;
- pushing a media access control (MAC) address of the client to one or more wireless extenders based on the comparison;
- receiving in response to the push a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) information;
- determining from the one or more wireless extenders one or more qualified wireless extenders based on the RSSI information;
- choosing from the one or more qualified wireless extenders a candidate wireless extender;
- and
- starting the steering, wherein starting the steering comprises:
- sending to the candidate wireless extender a pairwise transient key (PTK) of the client to bypass a four-way handshake process for seamless association, wherein the candidate wireless extender broadcasts a new service set identifier (SSID) by using a MAC address of the access point;
- and
- determining that the client is capable of being steered to the candidate wireless extender.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.