System and method for wi-fi roaming

摘要

Systems and methods for Wi-Fi roaming. A gateway supports both a local access point (AP) and a virtual AP. The local AP is accessible only to an “owner” of the gateway. The virtual AP (VAP) is accessible to devices associated with the owner of the gateway and to roaming Wi-Fi devices. A datastore conveys information about the roaming Wi-Fi devices to the VAP to permit them to access the VAP without the need for manual configuration of the VAP. A roaming Wi-Fi device may communicate with a gateway via a tunnel to maintain session connectivity during roaming. A session may be initiated on one network, such as a Wi-Fi network or a cellular network, handed off to another network, such as a cellular network or a Wi-Fi network, and then returned to the network on which the session was initiated.

主权项

1. A system for providing roaming within a service provider network, the system comprising:
a roaming wireless device, comprising a media access control (MAC) address; a roaming datastore storing service set identifications (SSIDs) and security configurations of one or more wireless access points (APs) in association with MAC addresses of one or more roaming wireless devices, wherein the one or more wireless APs are nodes in the service provider network; a first wireless AP device configured with an SSID and a security configuration, wherein the first wireless AP device is a component of a home gateway; and a second wireless AP device, wherein the second wireless AP device is a component of a foreign gateway and wherein the second wireless AP device comprises a processor configured with processor executable software instructions to perform operations comprising:
instantiating a virtual access point (VAP);receiving a probe request frame from the roaming wireless device, wherein the probe request frame comprises the MAC address of the roaming wireless device and the SSID of the first wireless AP device;determining that the roaming wireless device is authorized to associate with the VAP when the SSID of the first wireless AP device is stored in the roaming datastore in association with the MAC address of the roaming wireless device;retrieving the security configuration of the first wireless AP device from the roaming datastore when the roaming wireless device is authorized;associating the roaming wireless device with the VAP using the SSID and the security configuration of the first wireless AP device when it is determined that the roaming wireless device is authorized; andproviding the roaming wireless device access to the service provider network using the foreign gateway.