# US 2020/0288353 A1 · Smart channel selection for low bandwidth iot clients > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2020/0288353 A1 - Document ID: US20200288353A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/296,523 - Filed: 2019-03-08 - Published: 2020-09-10 - Earliest claimed: 2019-03-08 - Assignees: Cisco Technology, Inc. - Applicants: Cisco Technology, Inc. - Inventors: Santosh Babaji Kulkarni; Vishal Satyendra Desai; Pooya Monajemi; Young II Choi - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20200288353A1 ## CPC - H04W 28/20: Negotiating bandwidth - H04W 28/26: Resource reservation - H04W 28/18: Negotiating wireless communication parameters - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract In one embodiment, a supervisory device for a wireless network classifies each client of a set of access points in the wireless network as either an Internet of Things (IoT) device or a non-IoT device. The supervisory device selects, for each of the access points in the set, a channel width based on the classifications of its clients. The supervisory device assigns, for each of the access points in the set, one or more wireless channels for use by that access point, based on the selected channel width for that access point. The supervisory device instructs the access points in the set to use their assigned channels to communicate with their clients. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method comprising: classifying, by a supervisory device for a wireless network, each client of a set of access points in the wireless network as either an Internet of Things (IoT) device or a non-IoT device; selecting, by the supervisory device and for each of the access points in the set, a channel width based on the classifications of its clients; assigning, by the supervisory device and for each of the access points in the set, one or more wireless channels for use by that access point, based on the selected channel width for that access point; and instructing, by the supervisory device, the access points in the set to use their assigned channels to communicate with their clients. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method as in claim 1, wherein selecting, for each of the access points in the set, a channel width based on the classifications of its clients comprises: biasing the selection towards a 20 megahertz (MHz) channel width, based on a number of percentage of clients of the access point classified as IoT devices exceeding a predefined threshold. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The method as in claim 2, wherein the selection of a channel width for one of the access points is biased towards a 20 megahertz (MHz) channel width, based further on quality of service (QoS) or data rate requirements of the clients of that access point. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method as in claim 1, wherein instructing the access points in the set to use their assigned channels to communicate with their clients comprises: instructing a particular one of the access points to steer its clients classified as IoT devices towards use of a 20 megahertz (MHz) channel width. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The method as in claim 4, wherein the access point steers its clients classified as IoT devices towards use of a 20 MHz channel width by suppressing probe responses to its clients classified as IoT devices. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The method as in claim 4, wherein the access point steers its clients classified as IoT devices towards use of a 20 MHz channel width via a channel switch announcement or 802.11k dual band neighbor list. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method as in claim 1, further comprising: instructing the particular access point to steer its clients classified as IoT devices towards using a channel in the 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) band. ### Claim 8 An apparatus, comprising: one or more network interfaces to communicate with a network; a processor coupled to the network interfaces and configured to execute one or more processes; and a memory configured to store a process executable by the processor, the process when executed configured to: classify each client of a set of access points in the wireless network as either an Internet of Things (IoT) device or a non-IoT device; select, for each of the access points in the set, a channel width based on the classifications of its clients; assign, for each of the access points in the set, one or more wireless channels for use by that access point, based on the selected channel width for that access point; and instruct the access points in the set to use their assigned channels to communicate with their clients. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The apparatus as in claim 8, wherein the apparatus selects, for each of the access points in the set, a channel width based on the classifications of its clients by: biasing the selection towards a 20 megahertz (MHz) channel width, based on a number of percentage of clients of the access point classified as IoT devices exceeding a predefined threshold. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The apparatus as in claim 9, wherein the selection of a channel width for one of the access points is biased towards a 20 megahertz (MHz) channel width, based further on quality of service (QoS) or data rate requirements of the clients of that access point. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The apparatus as in claim 8, wherein the apparatus instructs the access points in the set to use their assigned channels to communicate with their clients by: instructing a particular one of the access points to steer its clients classified as IoT devices towards use of a 20 megahertz (MHz) channel width. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The apparatus as in claim 11, wherein the access point steers its clients classified as IoT devices towards use of a 20 MHz channel width by suppressing probe responses to its clients classified as IoT devices. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The apparatus as in claim 11, wherein the access point steers its clients classified as IoT devices towards use of a 20 MHz channel width via a channel switch announcement or 802.11k dual band neighbor list. ### Claim 14 (depends on 8) The apparatus as in claim 8, wherein the process when executed is further configured to: instruct the particular access point to steer its clients classified as IoT devices towards using a channel in the 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) band. ### Claim 15 A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing program instructions that cause a supervisory service for a wireless network to execute a process comprising: classifying, by the supervisory service for the wireless network, each client of a set of access points in the wireless network as either an Internet of Things (IoT) device or a non-IoT device; selecting, by the supervisory device and for each of the access points in the set, a channel width based on the classifications of its clients; assigning, by the supervisory device and for each of the access points in the set, one or more wireless channels for use by that access point, based on the selected channel width for that access point; and instructing, by the supervisory device, the access points in the set to use their assigned channels to communicate with their clients. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The computer-readable medium as in claim 15, wherein selecting, for each of the access points in the set, a channel width based on the classifications of its clients comprises: biasing the selection towards a 20 megahertz (MHz) channel width, based on a number of percentage of clients of the access point classified as IoT devices exceeding a predefined threshold. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The computer-readable medium as in claim 16, wherein the selection of a channel width for one of the access points is biased towards a 20 megahertz (MHz) channel width, based further on quality of service (QoS) or data rate requirements of the clients of that access point. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The computer-readable medium as in claim 15, wherein instructing the access points in the set to use their assigned channels to communicate with their clients comprises: instructing a particular one of the access points to steer its clients classified as IoT devices towards use of a 20 megahertz (MHz) channel width. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The computer-readable medium as in claim 18, wherein the access point steers its clients classified as IoT devices towards use of a 20 MHz channel width by suppressing probe responses to its clients classified as IoT devices. ### Claim 20 (depends on 18) The computer-readable medium as in claim 18, wherein the access point steers its clients classified as IoT devices towards use of a 20 MHz channel width via a channel switch announcement or 802.11k dual band neighbor list.