Seamless mobility in wireless networks

摘要

AP's associated with a communication network and any wireless devices desiring contact, operated according to a protocol in which each wireless device selects AP's with which to communicate. A system coordinator causes the AP's to operate so as to guide each wireless device to an AP selected by the system coordinator. This has the effect that, notwithstanding that the protocol involves having the wireless device make the selection of AP, functionally, the AP's make the selection for it. In a 1st technique, multiple AP's share an identifier, with the system coordinator directing one particular AP to respond to the wireless device, thus appearing to wireless devices as a “personal cell”. In a 2nd technique, AP's each maintain identifiers substantially unique to each wireless device, with the system coordinator directing only one particular AP to maintain any particular wireless device's identifier, thus appearing to wireless devices as a “personal AP”.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method in a system coordinator to provide seamless mobility to an end point in a wireless network by controlling soft handoffs of the end point among access points with the use of a persistent, uniquely-assigned BSSID (Basic Service Set Identifier), comprising:
selecting at least one communication parameter to associate with a BSSID; sending a beacon from a first access point to advertise its presence, wherein the beacon comprises the BSSID associated with the at least one communication parameter; responsive to the mobile station choosing the BSSID being advertised in the beacon sent from the first access point, selecting to uniquely assign the BSSID to a mobile station; associating the first access point from the plurality of access points with the mobile station, wherein associating comprises using the uniquely-assigned BSSID with the mobile station persistently and associating is made as selected by the system coordinator, the uniquely assigned BSSID being independent of an identify of mobile station and being eligible for subsequent assignment to a different mobile station as determined by the system coordinator; determining that the mobile station should be handed-off from the first access point to a second access point among the plurality of access points; handing-off the mobile station by changing associations of the uniquely-assigned BSSID from the first access point to a second access point, wherein a coordinator database of the system coordinator is updated according to the change, the coordinator database storing a plurality of access point identifiers in association with a plurality of mobile station identifiers, wherein the uniquely-assigned BSSID is persistent due to the mobile station maintaining the uniquely assigned BSSID through hand-offs between access points; and responsive to the hand-off, seamlessly continuing communication with the mobile station at the second access point while using the same uniquely-assigned BSSID without change at the mobile station, such that the mobile station continues communication with the second access point as if communication was still occurring with the first access point.