Cloud-assisted distributed service discovery in a wireless network

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer, which operates an access point, cause the computer to perform a method, the method comprising:

• receiving, from a cloud-based service management system, an enhanced record indicating a set of services provided by a service-providing device (SPD), wherein the enhanced record is associated with one or more policies that indicate which device is eligible for receiving a service provided by the SPD;
• caching the enhanced record in a service cache in a local storage device of the access point;
• receiving a request for discovering a service from a client device wirelessly coupled to the access point;
• determining, by the access point, whether to respond to or filter out the request based on the enhanced record and the one or more policies;
• and
• in response determining not to filter out the request, responding, by the access point, to the request based on the enhanced record.

A method, comprising:

• receiving, by a service manager, a service advertisement from an access point, wherein the service manager facilitates service discovery from the access point;
• obtaining, from the service advertisement, a service record indicating a set of services provided by a service-providing device (SPD);
• applying one or more policies to the service record to generate an enhanced record;
• determining a set of target access points for locally caching the enhanced record based on a selection mechanism, wherein a target access point is capable of responding to a request for the set of services received based on the locally cached enhanced record;
• and
• sending a distribution packet comprising the enhanced record to a respective target access point, wherein the enhanced record is associated with one or more access-point-level policies implementable at the target access point.