Method and apparatus for dormant mode support with paging

#Local area networks (“LAN”) have enabled digital networking of almost any computing device, including, computers, laptops, personal digital assistants, scanners and any other devices that, deal with digital information. However, traditionally, the physical reach of LANs has been limited because they require a physical or hard-wired connection between computing devices. Even with phone dial-ups, a LAN network is ultimately limited by its hard-wired nature. To overcome this limitation, wireless solutions were developed.

#In a wireless LAN (“WLAN”), network connections are accomplished by use of a wireless technology such as radio frequency (“RF”), infra-red, microwave, millimeter wave or other type of wireless communication instead of cable. This allows a computing device to remain connected to the network while it is mobile or while it is not physically connected to the WLAN. The connection is usually accomplished and maintained through the use of an interface card installed in the computing device. WLANs may also include connections to a wired network, such as a LAN. Connections to the wired network are accomplished through the use of access points. Access points are connected to a node using some type of wired connection. An access point can reside at any node on the wired network and acts as a gateway for routing data (“IP traffic”) between the wired and wireless portions of the network.

#Several protocols have been proposed to standardize WLANs to allow greater compatibility with a wide range of devices, networks and components. One such protocol is the IEEE 802.11. The IEEE 802.11 protocol specifies both the architectures and layers of a WLAN. The IEEE 802.11 protocol specifies the physical and medium access control (“MAC”) layers of a WLAN. The physical layer handles the wireless transmission of data, and is generally a form of RF or infrared communication. The MAC layer is a set of protocols which is responsible for maintaining order.

#The methods and apparatuses disclosed herein provide numerous embodiments which will be understood by those skilled in the art based on the present disclosure. Some of these are described below and are represented in the drawings by means of several figures, in which:

#FIG. 1 is a diagram of a wireless network with an ad hoc architecture according to the prior art;

#FIG. 2 is a diagram of a wireless network with an infrastructure architecture according to the prior art;

#Identical features are marked with identical reference symbols in the indicated drawings. Disclosed herein is a method and apparatus for implementing dormant mode with paging in a WLAN. The method for implementing dormant mode with paging basically includes the steps of (1) establishing paging areas; (2) communicating access group information to a computing device; and (3) locating a computing device. Although the following example will describe this method and apparatus using one computing device, it may be used for a plurality of computing devices. It is to be understood that the following example(s) is (are) for the purpose of explanation and not limitation.

#The step of establishing paging areas generally involves, forming at least two access point groups which includes; (a) defining the structure of the access point groups (b) establishing a protocol for communications among the access points in each access point group; (c) establishing a protocol for manipulating the access point groups.

#Generally, paging areas are defined by the outermost perimeter of the ranges of the outermost access point groups within a paging group. This outer most perimeter is the paging area boundary. The paging groups are generally formed from a subset of all the access points within the WLAN or network by defining the structure of the access point group which establishes the relationships among the access points. One example is shown in FIG. 3 wherein a WLAN 400 for which a paging area has been defined is shown. In this WLAN 400, there are two nodes 402 and 404 connected to a network 406, such as the internet, by some type of wired connection. A plurality of access points 420, 422, 424, 428, 430 and 432 are connected to nodes 402 and 404 via some type of wired connection. The access points 420, 422, 424, 428, 430 and 432 are grouped together so that the ranges of the access points 434, 436, 438, 440, 442 and 444 define a paging area 450 having a paging area boundary 452.