ACCESS POINTS AND METHODS FOR ACCESS POINT SELECTION USING AN INFORMATION DATA STRUCTURE

摘要

Methods and systems are presented which provide selection techniques for network equipment to communication stations with access point information that may be utilized to select network equipment for determining a location of the communication station. Techniques are disclosed involving location determination information in wireless networks. Such techniques may involve time of flight distance measurement protocols, signal strength measurement techniques and wireless communication networks. The networks may include IEEE 802.11 networks. In some embodiments, a device or communication station may receive a list of access point entries including data structures that have logical links corresponding to neighboring access points, the list being usable by the device to select an access point in a constant O(1) time. The data structure many include an address access point identifier, the geographic coordinates of the access point, a height above a floor value, unit types, and the error values.

主权项

1. A network equipment apparatus comprising:
processing circuitry; and an access point database stored in a memory coupled to the processing circuitry, the access point database including:
a list of access points where each access point in the list corresponds to an instance of an access point data structure and the instances of neighboring access points are linked, the access point data structure having:
an access point identifier, a geographic coordinate corresponding to a location of the access point, an error value associated with the geographic coordinate, and a description of capabilities of the access point; wherein the processing circuitry is configured to:
establish a network connection with a communication station (STA);access the access point database; andtransmit at least a portion of the list of neighboring access points to the STA.