APPLICATION AWARE ASSOCIATION IN WIRELESS NETWORKS

摘要

An application may be associated with an application endpoint that is accessed via a wireless local area network. In this disclosure, a wireless station may select and associated with one of a plurality of access points that provides better application throughput to the application endpoint. The application throughput may be based upon a combination of the wireless link rate (between the wireless station and the access point) as well as a measured application data rate (from the access point to the application endpoint). An access point may measure and advertise application data rates for a plurality of application endpoints, including one or more servers coupled to the local area network, a gateway to a wide area network, and/or a server coupled to the wide area network.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
executing, at a wireless station, an application associated with a target application endpoint accessible via a wireless network; determining a first estimated throughput from the wireless station to the target application endpoint via a first access point of the wireless network, wherein said first estimated throughput is based, at least in part, upon a first wireless link rate associated with the first access point and a first application data rate from the first access point to the target application endpoint; determining a second estimated throughput from the wireless station to the target application endpoint via a second access point of the wireless network, wherein said second estimated throughput is based, at least in part, upon a second wireless link rate associated with the second access point and a second application data rate from the second access point to the target application endpoint; selecting one of the first access point or the second access point based, at least in part, upon the first estimated throughput and the second estimated throughput; and associating with the selected one of the first access point or the second access point.