Wireless access point

Abstract

A wireless access point capable of building up a communication network which, despite of its simple constitution, prevents eavesdropping of authentication data, facilitates the system management and effects the authentication within a short period of time. A central control unit at a wireless access point reads a bridge control program, an IEEE 802.1x control program and an authentication control program into a memory to execute them. Based upon the IEEE 802.1x control program and the authentication control program, the central control unit authenticates a wireless terminal on a wireless LAN in response to a request for access to a network on a wired LAN from the wireless terminal on the wireless LAN, and notifies a common key of WEP to the wireless terminal on the wireless LAN when the authentication is obtained. Thus, the wireless access point is furnished with an authentication server function which is installed on the wired LAN in a conventional network system.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.