System and method for efficient communications system scanning

A method for wireless communications, the method comprising:

• receiving, by an access point, a composed query for obtaining information about a subset of a plurality of neighboring stations of the access point which satisfy criteria indicated by the composed query, the composed query including a logical combination of attributes and values, the attributes identifying elements of one or more advertisement protocols, the attributes being selected by a requesting station, the attributes and the values arranged in respective pairs, each of the respective pairs including a respective attribute of the attributes and a respective value of the values corresponding to the respective attribute, the logical combination of the attributes and the values further comprising logical operators indicating whether the respective value of each of the respective pairs is an included value or an excluded value for the respective attribute in the criteria that the subset of the plurality of neighboring stations satisfy;
• generating, by the access point, the information, the information indicating the subset of the plurality of neighboring stations that satisfy the criteria in the composed query, the subset of the plurality of neighboring stations that satisfy the criteria including neighboring stations with attributes satisfying the included values for the criteria and excluding neighboring stations with attributes satisfying the excluded values for the criteria;
• and
• transmitting, by the access point, the information to the requesting station.

A requesting station comprising:

• a processor configured to generate a composed query for obtaining information about a subset of a plurality of neighboring stations of an access point which satisfy criteria indicated by the composed query, the composed query including a logical combination of attributes and values, the attributes being selected by the processor, the attributes and the values arranged in respective pairs, each of the respective pairs including a respective attribute of the attributes and a respective value of the values corresponding to the respective attribute, the logical combination of the attributes and the values further comprising logical operators indicating whether the respective value of each of the respective pairs is an included value or an excluded value for the respective attribute in the criteria that the subset of the plurality of neighboring stations satisfy;
• a transmitter operatively coupled to the processor, the transmitter configured to transmit the composed query to the access point;
• and
• a receiver operatively coupled to the processor, the receiver configured to receive the information from the access point, the information indicating the subset of the plurality of neighboring stations that satisfy the criteria in the composed query, the subset of the plurality of neighboring stations that satisfy the criteria including neighboring stations with attributes satisfying the included values for the criteria and excluding neighboring stations with attributes satisfying the excluded values for the criteria, the processor further configured to select a neighbor station from the subset of the plurality of neighboring stations indicated by the information received, the processor further configured to initiate an association procedure with the neighbor station.

An access point comprising:

• a receiver configured to receive a composed query for obtaining information about a subset of a plurality of neighboring stations of the access point which satisfy criteria indicated by the composed query, the composed query including a logical combination of attributes and values, the attributes identifying elements of one or more advertisement protocols, the attributes being selected by a requesting station, the attributes and the values arranged in respective pairs, each of the respective pairs including a respective attribute of the attributes and a respective value of the values corresponding to the respective attribute, the logical combination of the attributes and the values further comprising logical operators indicating whether the respective value of each of the respective pairs is an included value or an excluded value for the respective attribute in the criteria that the subset of the plurality of neighboring stations satisfy;
• a processor operatively coupled to the receiver, the processor configured to generate the information, the information indicating the subset of the plurality of neighboring stations that satisfy the criteria in the composed query, the subset of the plurality of neighboring stations that satisfy the criteria including neighboring stations with attributes satisfying the included values for the criteria and excluding neighboring stations with attributes satisfying the excluded values for the criteria;
• and
• a transmitter operatively coupled to the processor, the transmitter configured to transmit the information to the requesting station.